European Commission Unveils New CAP Proposal for 2028–2034

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On 16 July 2025, the European Commission presented its proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028–2034, totalling nearly €2 trillion (equivalent to approximately 1.26% of the EU’s gross national income on average). This long-term investment framework aims to equip the European Union with the financial tools necessary to meet its strategic goals for the next decade, ensuring an independent, prosperous, secure and resilient society and economy.

A New Structure, but Reduced Ambition

The proposed CAP framework introduces a significant change: the merging of the two traditional funding pillars into a single financial envelope under the National and Regional Partnership (NRP) structure. While this intends to offer more flexibility to Member States, it also results in a 20% reduction of the CAP budget, which could severely limit the resources available for environmental and biodiversity-related interventions.

The proposal allocates €294 billion for farmer support, a measure that offers some financial stability but represents a notable decrease compared to the current CAP budget of €386.6 billion. Additionally, the requirement for supplementary national co-financing by Member States raises concerns about potential disparities in support levels across the  EU.

The removal of a dedicated CAP budget and governance structure would reduce visibility, fragment strategic planning, and risk creating a patchwork of diverging national priorities. This shift may re-nationalise EU agricultural policy, undermine our common market, and complicate long-term investment planning, precisely when a resilient and sustainable food system is urgently needed.In addition, while the proposal highlights the need for a risk management policy, the operation and accessibility of the €6.3 billion agricultural crisis reserve remain unclear—raising concerns about the Union's ability to respond effectively to emergencies such as climate-related shocks or market disruptions.

In the context of developing a more responsible and sustainable agriculture, the replacement of conditionality with a new, yet insufficiently defined, "Farm Stewardship" system raises serious concerns. This shift risks undermining established environmental and climate safeguards, as voluntary incentives cannot replace the effectiveness of clear, enforceable standards.

The proposal presented by the European Commission will now enter the trilogue process, where it will be examined and negotiated by the European Parliament and the Council. 

Beekeeping Sector

The new CAP framework enables potential interventions in the beekeeping sector, including advisory services, environmental actions, certification systems, and collective storage, under a broader interpretation of eligible support measures. However, the actual accessibility of these interventions for beekeepers remains uncertain and will heavily depend on how each Member State designs and implements its National and Regional Partnership Plan.

A key concern is how much funding the European Commission and Member States will actually allocate to beekeeping programmes, and whether any European-level criteria will be established to ensure proportional support across countries.  While the range of eligible measures supported in the current CAP proposal remains for the future, the new proposal includes the possibility of introducing coupled income support for apiculture products (Article 11 of Regulation 2025/0241 (COD), although it is left to the discretion of Member States and depends on criteria still to be defined. Access to National Crisis Envelopes also remains at the discretion of individual Member States. Today, the EU supports the beekeeping sector with 60 million euros, with co-funding from the national Member States. Given the tragic situation of the beekeeping sector and the positive externalities to nature and all other producing sectors, we hope the EU support for the CAP 2028-2035 and co-funding from Member States will be maintained at the same levels, if not increased. 

BeeLife’s Position: Keep Pollinators Central in the CAP

BeeLife expresses deep regret that the Commission’s proposal fails to secure a meaningful EU budget to meet public expectations on climate, biodiversity and sustainable agricultural practices in general.

Noa Simon, Scientific Director of BeeLife, says:  “We will continue to push for pollinator protection to be at the core of EU agri-food policies backed by science and supported with clear, binding instruments.”

BeeLife calls on the European Parliament and Council to amend the CAP proposal to:

• Ensure that taxpayers' money is spent only on those farmers aligned with biodiversity, resilient agricultural landscapes and pesticide reduction goals, and that this money is ring-fenced in the EU’s MFF.

• Ensure that MSs provide similar criteria to establish fair access to CAP support for small-scale, organic farmers/beekeepers and those not organic, but working with agro-ecological practices.

• Regarding the new sectorial interventions dedicated to protein crops, the melliferous and polliniferous potential of crop varieties need to be considered, rewarding farmers who contribute to pollinator-friendly practices. 

• In the Annex of proposal for the Regulation for the implementation of the support to the CAP (Part C: Rules on protective practices), dedicated measures for pollinator-friendly practices should be added.

• Including potentially useful measures from Article 31 dedicated to various sectors into Article. 55 Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 dedicated to the beekeeping sector (former CMO).

• Regarding the particularity of the beekeeping sector, and the pressing need for generational renewal, an age limit of 45 years old for “young farmers” in beekeeping could be proposed.

  
  

The European beekeepers are ready to “preserve or increase the number of beehives in the Union and to enhance product quality” as stipulated but they need support and coherent policies. Bee colonies, same as other insect pollinators, cannot survive in a poor and contaminated landscape.