On Monday 22 September, at the meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels (Belgium), agriculture ministers from the EU member states discussed the EU funding model that the European Commission (EC) has planned for the 2028-2034 financial period. Under the funding model the EC envisages for the next budget period, total funding for agriculture in the EU member states would be cut by 23%, and funding for fisheries by 62 per cent.

For Latvia specifically, the EC intends that support in 2028-2034 would fall by a quarter, and support for fisheries by two thirds. A reduction in support on this scale threatens not only the development of these sectors in Latvia, but also their resilience and even national security in the current geopolitical situation.

Minister for Agriculture Armands Krauze: “We have already stated clearly that the Common Agricultural Policy must remain a separate and independent policy with its own dedicated and adequate funding. Exactly the same goes for the Common Fisheries Policy. We do not support including agricultural and fisheries policy in a single plan, and we strongly object to the proposed cut in support funds. It is an unacceptable brake on the development of rural regions, providing neither for the levelling out of income support and additional help for the eastern border area, nor for the development of coastal and fishing communities.”

Agriculture and fisheries ministers from almost all EU member states were likewise critical of the EC's plans, noting that introducing a new, administratively burdensome model would increase the administrative burden and costs for member states and draw out implementation. Significant policy reform has already been carried out in the current period, with considerable funding invested in setting up management and IT systems to meet current requirements — requirements that would change again in future and demand fresh investment.

The minister is convinced that funding for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) must be increased or at least maintained at its present level, and that both must continue to be separate policies of strategic importance.

The EC has decided to change the funding model for EU member states from 2028, creating a single National and Regional Partnership (NRP) plan and fund in which the CAP and the CFP, with their corresponding funding, would be included as separate sections alongside regional cohesion, social, migration, border management and internal security policy. In the current period, the CAP and the CFP and the funds intended for their implementation exist as two separate EU policies.