CAP budget compromise emerging

The Brexit gap in the EU's finances may not be fully filled, but threats of substantial CAP cuts are moving away.

Thomas Hubert

17 January 2018

EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger.

European leaders are making moves that could protect farmers’ payments despite the €12bn Brexit shortfall.

“I do not fear much dramatic cuts in the CAP budget, but I can’t foresee the future,” European Commission agriculture official Tassos Haniotis said in Dublin on Wednesday.

Budget commissioner Günther Oettinger’s latest proposal is to increase member states’ contributions from 1% of GDP to between 1.1% and 1.2% from 2020.

A draft German coalition agreement includes a pledge to increase EU contributions.

However, a leaked French government paper has raised concerns by stating that the EU27 will not be able to pay what was previously being paid by 28 member states.

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