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An uncommon CAP?

The European Court of Auditors has released an Opinion on the draft CAP and CMO Regulations proposed by the Commission. It is a welcome analysis as it moves the discussion on the CAP in the next programming period 2028-2034 beyond the budget and governance issues that have dominated the debate to date, and provides an analytical examination of the changes proposed by the Commission for the CAP interventions themselves. There are many useful insights in the Opinion.

The one interpretation that I found puzzling was the ECA’s discussion of crisis payments for farmers (Article 38 of the Fund proposal). Box 5 in the Opinion appears to suggest that, in the event of natural disasters, farmers could also access exceptional aid from the EU Facility in addition to making use of funds available by using the flexibility options in the NRP Fund.… Read the rest

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Beyond the CAP: Recognising Living Heritage for Generational Renewal

A new structural framework for rural resilience and global competitiveness in the face of the Mercosur challenge

By Pablo Palencia Garrido-Lestache

Pablo Palencia Garrido-Lestache is a veterinarian and consultant with over 25 years of experience in One Health and agrifood strategy. He served as the Regional Minister for Rural Development, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food in Cantabria, Spain. Throughout his career, he has led the development of strategic projects for cooperatives and the establishment of PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) frameworks, focusing on integrating living heritage and ecosystem services into legal structures to ensure the resilience of livestock production systems. info@iberap.com

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Europe faces a silent but structural crisis in agriculture: generational renewal is failing.… Read the rest

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Dealing with stranded assets in the green transition

The latest edition of the journal Nature Food includes an article by Anniek Kortleve and co-authors on the role that stranded assets in European agriculture might play during food systems transformation. The context they consider is a shift towards plant-based diets which it is assumed will lead to a corresponding reduction in the demand for livestock products (animal sourced foods, ASF). The paper estimates the value of the capital assets that would become redundant under diet shifts of different magnitudes. It highlights the role that depreciation of assets can play to limit the extent of stranded assets, while also arguing that targeted policy support will be needed to avoid prolonged lock-in and to accelerate more rapid food system transformation.… Read the rest

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The rural 10% target cannot be monitored

In the autumn of last year, the European Parliament came close to rejecting the Commission’s MFF proposal as the basis for negotiations. In October 2025, the leaders of four of the main political groups in the Parliament – EPP, S&D, Renew and Greens/EFA – wrote to President von der Leyen stating plainly that the Commission proposal had not taken the Parliament’s core requests into consideration and demanding an amended proposal reflecting these requests to allow negotiations with the Parliament to move forward (a copy of this letter was made available by Politico Europe).

In response, the Commission in a non-paper (made available by Euractiv) proposed several amendments to its proposal, which were subsequently included in a speech made by President von der Leyen at a plenary debate of the Parliament on the MFF’s architecture and governance in November 2025.… Read the rest

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Lessons from the new U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans

I am not an expert in nutrition and, if I am honest, I have been sceptical of the significance of occasional health-related claims such as the claimed link between red meat and cancer. But that there is a link between diets and ill-health is indisputable. What is less clear is the nature of these links, which has been brought into sharp focus by the publication of the latest U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030 by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins two days ago on 7 January 2026.… Read the rest

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Potential increase in CAP funding in next MFF

The figures in Table 1 have been slightly revised since the original post to calculate the flexibility amount as 25% of a country’s NRPF financial allocation less its minimum ring-fenced amount for CAP income support (from which the allocation for CAP investment supports for farmers and foresters should be deducted). In the original post I had based the calculation on the NRPF general allocation.

Commission President von der Leyen sent a letter to the Cypriot Presidency of the Council and to the President of the European Parliament yesterday 6 January 2026, in which she proposed to make additional resources available as of 2028 to address the needs of farmers and rural communities (with thanks to Politico Europe for the link).… Read the rest

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The role of borrowing in the EU’s MFF budget discussions

The New Year 2026 will see negotiations on the EU’s next medium-term budget step up in gear. Many Member States have called to set a deadline of end 2026 to agree on the next Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF). This is necessary if the new MFF programmes are to start on 1 January 2028.

That this is a very ambitious deadline is an understatement. The Danes set a cracking pace in organising the Council’s MFF discussions under their Presidency, and presented a first draft of the famous ‘negotiating box’ to the European Council meeting in December 2025. This draft, without figures, was presented under the sole responsibility of the Presidency.… Read the rest

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Navigating the EU-U.S. trade relationship

2025 marked a decisive break in relations between the United States and Europe. From U.S. Vice-President Vance’s speech in February at the Munich Security Conference to the publication of the U.S. National Security Strategy at year’s end, Washington has framed the European Union not as a strategic partner but as an obstacle to U.S. objectives. This shift was illustrated throughout the year by escalating trade actions, growing divergence over Ukraine, and threats against tech regulation. By the end of the year, the EU had accepted an unequal trade deal with the United States, undermining its long-standing self-image as a ‘soft power’.… Read the rest

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2025 was a record year for farm income, though not for all

As the tractors arrived in Brussels yesterday, it is important to keep a sense of perspective. European farm incomes broke a new record high in 2025 – also in real terms – although not all farmers participated in this. But amid all the doom and gloom spread about an industry on its knees (a narrative with an explicitly political objective), and despite the evident challenges, it is even more important to keep an eye on the underlying facts.

The record farm income is reported in Eurostat’s first estimate of the economic accounts for agriculture earlier this week. This gives a snapshot of the economic health of the agricultural sector, summarised in what Eurostat calls Indicator A.… Read the rest

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The looming Mercosur tragedy

Weak political leadership in Europe looks likely to doom the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement in a vote among EU Member States later this week. Denmark, as current Council President, has indicated it intends to schedule a vote at Ambassador level (COREPER II) to take place either Thursday or Friday this week. To be approved, the Agreement must gain the support of 55% of Member States (currently, 15 out of 27) representing at least 65% of the EU population. The Agreement can be blocked by a blocking minority which requires at least 4 countries representing at least 35% of the EU population.… Read the rest