Finance
EU lawmakers challenge EU budget plan over farming, regional aid
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 5, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 5, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
EU Parliament challenges the EU budget plan, advocating for distinct funding for farmers and regions to maintain fair competition.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Parliament wants the European Commission to amend its proposal for the EU 2028-2034 budget to restore separate financing streams for farmers and for regional aid, a senior EU parliament official said on Wednesday.
Siegfried Muresan, who is one of the parliament's two budget negotiators, told reporters that unless the Commission amended its July proposal that merged the two financing streams into one pool of money, the parliament would reject it.
"We want these policies to be preserved as standalone policies with a clear legislative base, with European objectives, with distinct budgets," Muresan said.
The EU has been spending roughly a third of its 1.2 trillion euro ($1.4 trillion) budget on the common agriculture policy to support farmers and another third on cohesion policy to equalise standards of living of the various regions of the 27-nation bloc.
COMMISSION PLAN AIMS FOR MORE BUDGET FLEXIBILITY
To give governments more flexibility as priorities change, the Commission proposed for the first time that in 2028-2034 the two pots should become one, with spending at the discretion of each government.
But the parliament is adamantly against that, arguing that with a single EU market, agriculture policies should also be pan-European to maintain fair competition.
"We want the European agriculture policy, a European cohesion policy, not the possibility for each of the 27 governments to define their policies at national level," Muresan said.
He said the parliament was against such a "re-nationalization" because the amount of support farmers received would differ from one EU member to another.
"That would lead to a competitive disadvantage for some farmers and it would destroy the single market of agricultural products," he said.
The European Parliament's consent is necessary for the EU to adopt the next budget which finances all of the EU's flagship policies. The long-term budget negotiations are notorious for being the most difficult the EU embarks upon.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Tomasz Janowski)
The EU budget is the financial plan of the European Union, outlining expected revenues and expenditures for a specific period, primarily used to fund various policies and programs across member states.
The common agricultural policy (CAP) is a policy framework of the EU aimed at supporting farmers, enhancing agricultural productivity, and ensuring a stable supply of affordable food.
The European Parliament represents EU citizens and plays a crucial role in shaping legislation, including approving the EU budget and overseeing the implementation of EU policies.
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