The European Commission’s EU budget proposal for 2028-2034 have come under fire from co-ops in the agricultural and renewable energy sectors.
Copa and Cogeca, which represent farmers and their co-ops, are unhappy at plans to farm subsidies under the €1.8tn plan, which represents 1.26% of the EU’s gross national income on average between 2028 and 2034. The budget allocated for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is reduced from €386.8bn under the current budget to €300bn.
Furthermore, the Commission suggests merging the CAP budget with funding for other policies as part of National and Regional Partnership Plans.
The Commission says funding rules for agriculture and rural communities will be “simpler, including on payments, controls and audits”. However, Copa and Cogeca criticised the proposal to dismantle the ‘Common’ nature of the CAP, adding that the National and Regional Partnership Plans should not be justified “by the alleged virtue of administrative simplification”. The two apexes described the proposal as “the worst reform of the CAP”.
“Considering the colossal challenges facing agriculture, Copa-Cogeca has instead advocated for a consolidated, inflation-adjusted budget and a CAP that ensures predictability and the good functioning of the single market,” they said.
“The result is an approach that is unacceptable to European farming organisations.”
Prior to the release of the Commission’s budget proposal, Copa and Cogeca launched a petition calling for a dedicated and increased budget for the CAP, rejecting the renationalisation of the agricultural policy, and maintaining the CAP’s two-pillar structure. Over 7,000 organisations signed the petition.
“To those who feel shocked, dismayed, or stunned by the Commission’s announcements this Wednesday, we say this is only the beginning of a long process,” the apexes added. “As we demonstrated today in front of the Berlaymont alongside numerous members of the European Parliament from across the political spectrum, we call on the European co-legislators – particularly the Agriculture Committee and ministers – to take up these two dossiers and turn words of support for agriculture into concrete action.
“Copa and Cogeca will remain strongly mobilised at this historic moment for the sector.”
Under the proposed budget, a new €410bn European Competitiveness Fund to invest in strategic technologies, focusing its support on four areas: clean transition and decarbonisation; digital transition; health, biotech, agriculture and bioeconomy; defence, and space.
The proposed Budget would also see the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action, known as the Life programme, absorbed into the European Competitiveness Fund. The proposal was criticised by the European federation of energy communities, Rescoop, which warns it could jeopardise the growth of the community energy movement. Environmental NGO WWF has also criticised the proposal.
“The Life Clean Energy Transition programme has been instrumental in the creation of new energy communities and the development of new services, such as flexibility, housing renovations, and heating and cooling,” Rescoop said. “Without a specific budget in the new competitiveness fund, this essential support risks disappearing. Therefore, Rescoop.eu, the European federation of energy communities, calls for dedicated, earmarked funding for energy communities in the next EU budget.”
REScoop.eu also wants the EU budget doubled to at least €2tn, including a new round of joint borrowing and allocating at least 50% of it to activities that contribute to one or more of the EU’s environmental goals of the EU Taxonomy (up from the 35% currently proposed). It also argues that the EU’s Just Transition and social economy objectives should be mainstreamed across all EU funds, while also maintaining a stand-alone fund dedicated to such purposes.
Energy communities should explicitly be eligible in all public funding calls, including the Cohesion Funds and to the proposed Competitiveness Fund, with clear social criteria, adds Rescoop. Given that most EU funds would be concentrated into National and Regional Partnership Plans, Rescoop is calling on member states to earmark dedicated funding streams for community energy projects and citizen energy initiatives, as per its vision for the next EU budget.
“There is strong public support for action in the face of potential climate breakdown, but we also need to take citizens along with us in making the necessary changes, said Mark Luntley, Rescoop’s president. “That means addressing the growing income and social inequalities across our continent.
“Funding streams such as the just transition fund, Life and Cosme are key in addressing this issue, we contend they should be ringfenced in the coming MFF. In our vision for the next EU budget, member states need to make it easier for organisations working in the social economy to access funds, for example by working with national federations of energy communities. We think this should increase public awareness of climate issues and wider support for the EU’s work in this area.”
The proposed EU budget will be debated by the European Council and Parliament over the next two years during which Copa-Cogeca and Rescoop will seek to coordinate with its members, as well as civil society organisations to influence discussions.
