THE EU IS considering an overhaul how it funds agriculture in its next multi-year budget.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, will unveil its proposal for the 2028-2034 budget on Wednesday, kickstarting two years of talks between the 27 member states.

At the heart of the debates will be the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) – vast farming subsidies that make up the biggest share of the budget.

The CAP accounts for nearly a third of the EU’s current multi-year budget – around €387 billion, of which €270 billion is directly paid to farmers.

Now the commission plans to integrate it into a new major “national and regional partnership” fund, which farmers fear will mean less support.

One potential outcome would see the merging of the CAP, including both direct payments to farmers and rural development funds, into national plans combining investments and reforms across multiple sectors.

The EU says it would streamline administration and better align farm funding with EU goals around climate action, competitiveness and crisis preparedness.

An EU official, however, stressed the CAP will have a “specific regulation” with resources earmarked for farmers including direct aid, investments and support for small farms.

But two separate mechanisms including a programme for the development of disadvantaged rural regions and an initiative for agricultural innovation could be moved from the CAP to another funding umbrella.

“We’re making things more flexible,” the commission official said.

Yet farmers’ groups are not convinced and will stage a “symbolic” protest to put pressure on the commission in Brussels on Wednesday.

EU lawmaker and agriculture spokesman Herbert Dorfmann for the biggest group in the European Parliament, the right-wing EPP, emphasised the importance of a policy that was “properly funded, truly common, and centred on farmers”.

France, whose farmers are some of the biggest beneficiaries of the CAP, expressed concern today about potential changes before the document leak.

“What we obviously fear greatly is a dilution of the CAP budget,” French agriculture minister Annie Genevard said before a meeting with EU counterparts in Brussels.

Tractors have repeatedly blocked the streets of Brussels in recent years, with farmers upset at cheap imports, low margins and the burden of environmental rules.