The European Commission’s (EC) proposal for the next European Union (EU) budget endangers the future of farmers, according to Guntis Gūtmanis, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Agricultural Organizations Cooperation Council (LOSP), speaking to the news agency LETA.
The organization points out that on Wednesday, the 16th of July, the EC presented its proposal for a 2 trillion euros EU budget for the 2028–2034 period. The plan emphasizes economic competitiveness and defense while also reforming the rules on subsidies for agriculture and economic development.
In LOSP’s view, this proposal not only threatens the stability and future of the agricultural sector but also increases policy fragmentation, bureaucracy, and inequality in rural areas across Latvia and Europe as a whole.
“We urge the government, Foreign Minister Baiba Braže (New Unity), and Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (New Unity) to take active steps and adhere to the Latvian position approved by the Saeima on the EU’s future budget and its financing conditions, maintaining a dedicated budget for agriculture,” said Gūtmanis.
He added that this is
the only way to ensure the competitiveness, stability, and long-term development of the agricultural sector.
LOSP also called on Latvia’s Members of the European Parliament to actively defend Latvia’s interests and stand up for the country’s farmers.
Agita Hauka, LOSP board member and Chairwoman of the Latvian Farmers Federation, emphasized that food production and the ability of agriculture to supply society with food is a matter of national security — not a secondary budget item that forces farmers to struggle with bureaucracy and uncertainty about whether necessary support will be available.
Jānis Miezītis, LOSP board member and Chairman of the Livestock Farms Association, stated that it is unacceptable for agriculture to be pushed to the brink of collapse and burdened with increasing bureaucracy.
“If we no longer have agriculture in this country, we simply won’t have anything to eat. There will only be imported products at disproportionate prices. Food must be accessible and reasonably priced. And that also applies to food production! We don’t even need to look far back — just a few years ago, during the COVID-19 crisis, food supply chains were disrupted. If such a scenario repeats during another crisis and domestic agriculture can no longer produce enough food, we’ll be left to eat only what we’ve grown ourselves,” Miezītis warned.
He stressed that urgent action is needed to prevent such a scenario — not to
“regret it afterward and scramble for solutions to a national or European-scale problem.”
LOSP highlights that the EC has not fulfilled its previous promises to reduce bureaucracy — on the contrary, the new proposal would split rural development programs across multiple funds, increasing administrative burdens and complicating access to support. Additional concerns center around the issue of direct payment equalization, which remains unaddressed. Since joining the EU, farmers in the Baltic states have consistently received significantly lower support than those in other parts of Europe.
LOSP also notes that the umbrella organization for European farmers, Copa-Cogeca — of which LOSP is a member — has already publicly voiced its concerns about the proposal.
LOSP urges the Latvian government, the foreign minister, and the prime minister to listen to Latvian farmers and industry professionals, and to firmly defend Latvia’s national interests by insisting on a separate, clearly defined agricultural budget with predictable support. LOSP expects Latvia’s MEPs to actively advocate for the future of the country’s agricultural sector.
“We keep speaking out and reminding everyone —
food production and the resilience of the agricultural sector are not just economic issues
— they are the foundation of national security. Ensuring access to quality local food is an essential part of Latvia’s future,” emphasized Dzintra Lejniece, LOSP vice chairwoman and board member of the Latvian Pig Breeders Association.
As previously reported, the EC’s proposed long-term EU budget for 2028–2034 totals €2 trillion — around 700 billion euros more than the current 2021–2027 framework.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has described it as the most ambitious budget ever proposed: “It is more strategic, more flexible, more transparent,” she said, emphasizing that the budget proposal addresses Europe’s key challenges and strengthens its independence.
The EC plans to focus more on defense and competitiveness expenditures, as well as seek new sources of revenue and revise the criteria for allocating funds.
The proposal includes the creation of a 451 billion euros competitiveness fund to support EU investments in clean technologies,
the digital economy, defense, food security, and innovation. Up to 100 billion euros is earmarked for support to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, 300 billion euros is guaranteed for agricultural support — down from the 387 billion euros allocated under the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), of which €270 billion went directly to farmers as direct payments.
Unlike previous budgets, the new long-term budget will also include debt repayments. Starting in 2028, the EU will begin repaying the 800 billion euros loan jointly taken by member states to help the economy recover after the COVID-19 pandemic. These repayments will require 25–30 billion euros annually.
The EC’s budget proposal is still subject to debate and amendment in the European Parliament and negotiations with EU member states.
Notably, farmer protests against the proposed cuts to agricultural funding already took place outside the European Parliament building on Wednesday, July 16.
LOSP represents more than 50 agricultural organizations, 10,000 farmers, and tens of thousands of rural residents.
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