Andrius Palionis: EC budget cuts to Lithuanian agriculture could leave a shortfall of around €2 billion

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ELTA 2025-10-05 12:08:42 Comments: 0

The European Commission (EC) may fall short by around €2 billion in the next Community budget, after reserving 20% less money for Lithuanian agriculture than before, says Agriculture Minister Andrius Palionis. Although the amount reserved is unlikely to increase, additional funding is expected to come from other European financial instruments, he said.

In September, the Commission decided to reserve around €4.39 billion for Lithuanian agriculture in the budget.

„We have calculated that at least to reach that minimum level and to achieve convergence, to maintain the same Rural Development Programme that was in place in this period, the total would need to be around €6.2–6.5 billion“, „Palionis said on Delfi“ this week.

The amount reserved under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is earmarked for measures to support farmers' incomes and will cover direct payments, sectoral interventions, rural development measures, investment support, the establishment of young farmers, the development of small farms, business promotion and farm replacement services.

„I think that as far as the contacts have been made with the European Commission and the Commissioner, the envelope of EUR 4 billion will not be increased“, – he said.

„The emphasis is on the security of the European Union, the emphasis is on the fact that we get additional funds as an eastern country, as a border country with Russia, Belarus, where there is also a separate funding, which could be applied for by agriculture“, – the Minister added.

According to him, preliminary calculations have shown that around €4.28 billion will be spent on maintaining direct payments for the next financial period in 2027 alone.

„That leaves just 100 million and a bit for the second pillar. Thirteen million every year“, – said the Minister.

According to A. Palionis, Lithuania may receive additional funding from the European Cohesion Fund, which is managed by the Ministry of Finance, but the possible amount is not yet known.

„As far as we know from the European Commission, there is also money for convergence. What kind of money, we are still guessing and trying to calculate ourselves. And I did it myself last week, but since we haven't spoken to the Ministry of Finance yet, I don't want to give my suspicions as to what the money is," the minister said.

However, Palionis believes that there is room for finding a solution so that Lithuanian agriculture does not suffer financially.

„The first feeling is sad, frightening, but I think we will find that understanding in the negotiations and the agricultural sector will not suffer“, – assured the Minister.

According to the ministry's announcement in September, a total of €300 billion has been allocated to all EU member states by the EC for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2028–2034, of which €6.3 billion is earmarked for the agricultural reserve, with the remainder – almost €293.7 billion – for income support measures.

In terms of the average annual amount of funds proposed by the EC, calculated on the basis of eligible hectares across all Member States, Lithuania is ranked second to last among all EU countries.