The Council of the European Union has agreed on part of its negotiating position for the next Common Agricultural Policy, setting out a proposed framework for farm support after 2027.
The October 26 position is a step in negotiations over the EU’s 2028-2034 budget and agricultural rules. It is not enacted legislation. Important financial and horizontal questions remain outside the Council’s partial position.
What would change?
The proposed framework would place agricultural support within broader national and regional partnership plans. Each member state would prepare a comprehensive plan covering multiple policy areas.
Under the framework described by the Council, the current two-pillar agricultural funding structure would move into one structure, while retaining tools and interventions associated with the Common Agricultural Policy.
The Council’s position also addresses support for active and young farmers, flexibility for national circumstances, and agricultural resilience.
What remains unresolved?
The Council calls the position “partial” because it does not settle financial and horizontal issues being negotiated as part of the broader long-term EU budget.
The final amount reserved for farmers’ support remains to be agreed. The Commission has proposed approximately €300 billion for income support and crisis measures, but that figure should not be presented as a final funding commitment.
For agricultural, trade and environmental lawyers, the eventual legislation could affect subsidy design, national implementation and conditions attached to support.
The legal work is still ahead: the Council’s position forms part of negotiations, and the final text may change before adoption.
Source: Council of the EU announcement