Brussels – Spain will receive 20% less European funds for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and regional Cohesion funds in the European Union budget for the period 2028-2034, according to the latest data on country allocations revealed by the European Commission.
The total allocation for Spain starting in 2027 will be €88.1 billion, of which a large portion of €79.9 billion will be allocated to agricultural and fisheries funds and regional programs, although this figure represents a 20% cut compared to the €100 billion from the previous period.
Meanwhile, another €3 billion is allocated to migration, security, and internal affairs programs, and the remaining €5.3 billion to the social fund for climate.
“Our first impression is that both support for rural development and for less developed regions are distorted, with the enormous territorial and political cost that this may entail,” lamented the Secretary of State for the European Union, Fernando Sampedroduring his speech at the meeting of EU General Affairs ministers taking place this Friday in Brussels.
Sampling also expressed his concern regarding the centralized execution model of national and regional plans proposed by the European Commission, which is based on the design of recovery and resilience plans, “with co-financing and certification, conditionality, and compliance with milestones and objectives.”
“It is, ultimately, excessively complex, the exact opposite of what was expected in an exercise where we aimed to simplify the budgetary framework,” he criticized, before also expressing reservations regarding the new own resources proposed by Brussels to increase the community budget, as “most are national taxes that already exist.”
In any case, the proposal from the community executive is the first step in a long process of at least two years of negotiations between governments and the European Parliament. (July 18)
