EU budget for 2028-2034: auditors weigh in on the new proposal for agriculture

Press release

Luxembourg, 9 February 2026

EU budget for 2028-2034: auditors weigh in on the new proposal for agriculture

The EU’s financial watchdog has provided its views on the draft laws that, once passed, will govern the bloc’s agriculture, food and farming from 2028 to 2034. In an opinion issued today, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) provides the European Parliament and the Council of the EU with independent expert advice on the European Commission’s proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Common Market Organisation (CMO). The auditors comment on the future CAP’s design and implementation with a view to ensuring sound financial management, accountability and EU added value. They warn of several risks due to uncertainty and lack of clarity, and stress that EU funding must remain traceable.

In 2025, the Commission put forward a total of €2 trillion for the EU’s 2028-2034 budget, or multiannual financial framework (MFF). With a budget of around €865 billion, the European Fund would be the single largest part of the next MFF. The CAP, which is currently the EU’s biggest agricultural spending programme, would be funded by the new single fund based on national plans. This is the first time since the CAP was founded in 1962 that there would be no specific fund for agriculture. The Commission’s proposal also marks a major structural change, as it does away with the CAP’s traditional two-pillar support: one for farmers and the agri-food sector, and the other for rural development.

The auditors found that complicated planning and adoption arrangements, combined with more complex CAP legal architecture, risk creating uncertainty, thus reducing predictability for beneficiaries and delaying the delivery of funds, and could ultimately undermine the goal of simplification. Following the interinstitutional accord between the Presidents of the European Parliament and the Commission and the Council Presidency of November 2025, which agreed to move certain provisions from the European Fund into the CAP regulation, the auditors believe that EU lawmakers could move further relevant provisions with a view to making the policy more complete.

There could also be some uncertainty, however, as the overall amount of CAP funding will be known only after the national plans under the single fund have been adopted. For the recipients of funds, this could create unpredictability at the planning stage about how much funding they can expect. And it can also be challenging to compare CAP spending under the current MFF with the potential allocation under the next one.

Further uncertainty stems from a lack of clarity about which CAP interventions should be based on outputs and which on milestones and targets, potentially leading to inconsistency between EU countries. In this respect, the auditors stress that accountability and traceability should also be ensured where interventions are based on milestones and targets. In particular, traceability from accounts to final beneficiaries such as farmers is a non-negotiable condition for the ECA to carry out its role.

Given the extent of the proposed changes and the flexibility afforded to EU countries when preparing their national plans, it is difficult to make realistic estimates of any impact the Commission’s proposals are likely to have on national spending allocations. Moreover, greater flexibility for EU countries should not jeopardise the CAP’s common objectives, such as a fair income for farmers, environmental care and climate action, and food security, as that could create an uneven playing field for farmers and negatively affect fair competition and the functioning of the internal market. To mitigate this risk, the Commission will need to play its strengthened steering role effectively.

Background information

The European Fund would merge formerly separate funds, and bring EU funding for different long-standing policies under one national plan per country. CAP payments to member states can be based either on outputs or on the achievement of milestones and targets. The CAP would receive the minimum budget allocation of €293.7 billion for farmers’ income support (the ‘ringfenced’ amount), while other CAP measures such as the LEADER rural development programme empowering local communities, support for the outermost regions, and the EU school scheme would be funded from the non-ringfenced amount. The interinstitutional accord suggests a ‘rural target’ of 10 % of the non-ringfenced amount (at least €48.7 billion at current prices). Furthermore, as part of the EU-Mercosur agreement, the Commission proposed that EU countries should also have access to about €45 billion from the flexibility amount as from 2028 in order to address the needs of farmers and rural communities.

Today’s opinion is part of a series on MFF proposals. It is available on the ECA’s website in English; other EU languages will follow shortly. The ECA has recently issued opinions on the proposed European Competitiveness Fund, Horizon Europe, MFF Regulation and EU Own Resources; further opinions will be published shortly, such as on the European Fund, the performance framework, Global Europe, the civil protection mechanism, and Erasmus+. The Council of the EU and the European Parliament have asked for the auditors’ views before they themselves examine the proposals.

Related links

Opinion on the new CAP proposal

Press contact

ECA press office: press@eca.europa.eu

Damijan Fišer: (+352) 621 552 224