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The €7.5 billion top-up coming to the EU’s farming subsidies programme from the bloc’s post-COVID stimulus plan should be made available as quickly as possible, Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said on Monday (7 September).
The deal on the seven-year budget the EU leaders agreed in July included an extra allocation meant exclusively for strengthening the rural development fund, which represents the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)’s second pillar.
These complementary funds were included in the historic ‘Next Generation EU’ recovery plan (NGEU) intended to help different sectors recover from the disruption caused by the pandemic.
During the parliamentary hearing, the idea of making the €7.5 billion available as from the next budget year has been backed by several MEPs from different political groups, including the two biggest ones – the centre-right Europe’s People Party (EPP) and the Socialists and Democrats (S&D).
The Commissioner also expressed a positive evaluation of the overall budget deal, as the CAP spending will now amount to €344 billion in constant prices – or €386.7 billion in current prices, the figure he used.
This is roughly €20 billion more than what the EU executive earmarked in its proposal in July 2018, although still significantly lower than the 2014-2020 CAP budget, which totalled €383 billion, even without the UK contribution.
For Wojciechowski, the final deal was much better than what was expected and the Commission is satisfied with the avoided cuts.
Source and photo: EUACTIV
