Lithuania warns EU farm funding cuts will complicate negotiations

VILNIUS - Lithuania’s Deputy Agriculture Minister Rolandas Taraskevicius said on Monday that difficult negotiations lie ahead as the European Commission plans to cut agricultural funding by a fifth after 2027, with equalisation of direct payments remaining a key priority during Lithuania’s European Union Council presidency next year.

According to the deputy minister, the plan presented by the European Commission last July has caused concern among many European Union member states, including Lithuania. For years, Vilnius has sought to level the playing field for direct payments, but achieving this in the new financial framework may prove more challenging. Although negotiations are in their early stages and changes are possible, Lithuania maintains that convergence of direct payments must remain a priority.

“The most sensitive issue for us is external convergence—the equalisation of payments. Even under the current architecture, it is harder to compare member states than it was before. But we are not moving closer to that equalisation; we are moving further away,” Taraskevicius said.

He noted that while European Union plans include structural changes—proposing to abolish the current two pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy in favour of a single fund—this could complicate the allocation of resources as agriculture would be forced to compete with other sectors.

The European Commission proposes allocating 4.386 billion euros to Lithuania for agricultural income support in the 2028–2034 financial framework, approximately 20 percent less than the 5.485 billion euros in the previous period. While this sum would be reserved, other measures could be funded through general funds or national resources.

The deputy minister said that while a theoretical possibility to secure more funding exists, in practice, agriculture often loses out to other sectors in the competition for resources.

“Theoretically, as the Commission says, if you used additional non-reserved amounts, you could even have more, but that is theory. Because what is non-reserved means agriculture must compete with other areas, and we know from bitter experience that if agriculture has to compete and a country must decide between farming and something else, that something else has always been more of a priority,” the official said.

The European Commission also proposes reforming the payment system by reducing area-based support, setting an annual cap of 100,000 euros, and targeting support more towards smaller farms. Furthermore, the share of the budget dedicated to environmental and climate goals is set to rise to 43 percent, up from the current 40 percent.

Lithuania expects that, as the holder of the European Union Council presidency, it will be able to play an active role in shaping a common position among member states and representing national interests in negotiations with the European Parliament.