The EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger has said that farmers in Germany should expect to be paid less in agricultural subsidies after 2021 due to direct subsidy cuts at a European level.

Oettinger made the comments in a German newspaper over the weekend, where he said the EU’s executive was already looking at areas to introduce cuts, with a prospective 5% to 10% depletion in agriculture and cohesion expenditure.

The commissioner also stated that the executive was not only considering reducing direct agriculture payments to farmers, but also introducing a threshold limit to payments.

The comments will come as a major concern to most farmers, as Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments make up a large percentage of most European farmers' incomes.

Last week, 32 agriculture members of the European Parliament committed to increase the EU’s budget for CAP in 2020, and passed an opinion that will be reviewed by the EU’s Budget Committee.

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