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opinion parliamentary committee draft, 11 December 2024

On guidelines for the 2026 budget – Section III

Document AGRI-PA-766757 · (2024/2110(BUI))

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development · Rapporteur: Dario Nardella

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AI:In short

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development's draft opinion for the 2026 EU budget highlights the CAP's role and calls for adequate funding, promotion of EU products, a stronger agricultural reserve, and increased research and innovation funding. It also welcomes digital transformation and urges member states to boost generational renewal in farming, especially for women and young people.

Position. The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development calls on the Committee on Budgets to incorporate its views into the motion for a resolution on the 2026 budget.

Key points

  1. Highlights the crucial role of agricultural and rural development policies, particularly the CAP, in ensuring fair farmer incomes, sustainable food systems, and viable EU agricultural production.
  2. Calls on the Commission to account for closure of rural development programmes and acceleration of CAP strategic plan disbursement, avoiding payment shortages; budgetary authority should stay vigilant.
  3. Upholds promotion of EU agricultural products to boost competitiveness, including on external markets.
  4. Stresses need for a stronger, more reactive agricultural reserve to cope with unpredictable factors like extreme weather or geopolitical context.
  5. Opposes any proposals to reduce pre-allocated CAP funds in the future budget.
  6. Underlines importance of increasing funding for research, development, and innovation in agriculture and agri-food, as in Horizon Europe.
  7. Welcomes digital transformation in agriculture and rural areas to improve efficiency, sustainability, precision, and effective use of EU budgetary resources.
  8. Urges member states to step up generational renewal efforts by enhancing support measures, improving access to land and credit, particularly for women and young people.

Who is affected

  • Farmers and agricultural producers, who would benefit from continued CAP support and promotion.
  • Member states, which are urged to enhance support for generational renewal and access to land and credit.
  • Women and young people in rural areas, targeted for improved access to farming.

Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem

Full text

Opinion 9 paragraphs

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:

1.Highlights the crucial role of agricultural and rural development policies, particularly the common agricultural policy (CAP), in ensuring fair incomes for farmers, fostering sustainable food systems and guaranteeing the viability of EU agricultural production;

2.Calls on the Commission to draw up its estimates, taking into account the impact on the level of payment appropriations of the closure of rural development programmes under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the acceleration of disbursement under the CAP strategic plans; underlines the importance of avoiding a shortage of payment appropriations in this context and calls on the budgetary authority to remain vigilant in that regard;

3.Upholds the promotion of EU agricultural products to boost their competitiveness and relevance, including on external markets;

4.Stresses the need for a stronger and more reactive agricultural reserve to cope with unpredictable external factors, such as extreme weather events or the geopolitical context, which can impact agricultural production and markets;

5.Opposes any proposals to reduce the level of pre-allocated funds from the CAP in the future budget;

6.Underlines the importance of increasing funding for research, development and innovation in the agriculture and agri-food sector, as in the Horizon Europe research programme;

7.Welcomes the digital transformation in agriculture and rural areas to improve the efficiency, sustainability and precision of agricultural systems, ensuring more effective use of the EU’s budgetary resources;

8.Urges the Member States to step up their efforts to promote generational renewal in the agricultural sector and rural areas by enhancing support measures that make farming jobs more attractive and by improving access to land and credit, particularly for women and young people.