“The intention is for all funds to be subjected to what is euphemistically termed ‘conditionality’… no sovereign nation should accept such an arrangement.”
The Commission president “will go down in history as the gravedigger of the Common Agricultural Policy—practically the only thing still common in Europe,” Spanish farm union president Pedro Barato said.
It’s going to be a tough sell to member states to provide €800 billion more for the total budget, but still cutting cohesion and agricultural funds by 25-30% and sending it to Kyiv.
Diluting agricultural funds and cutting back subsidies by 20% to make room for defense is “unacceptable” and undermines Europe’s food security, protest organizers say.
According to a leaked budget proposal, the Commission decided to ignore the demands of 20 member states and over 6,000 farmers’ organizations asking for an independent CAP.
More than 3,000 farmers’ groups and 20 member states opposed the planned budget reforms, forcing the Commission to seek alternative ways to cut agricultural subsidies by about 20%.
Farmers’ organizations and right-wing parties in the EU parliament have been protesting this budget merger for months, but the Commission refuses to listen.
![A farmer protest in Berlin in January 2024. The placard reads "Without farmers [there is] no future".](https://europeanconservative.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Farmer_protest_in_Berlin_2024-01-12_29-scaled.jpg)
