Letter from Brussels - December 2025

Farmers from across Europe will take to the streets of Brussels seven days before Christmas to highlight deep worries about the EU Commission’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and budget reforms, excessive regulations, and the signing of the Mercorsur trade deal.
The protest being organised by COPA and COGECA and its members will coincide with the EU heads of state council meeting taking place at the same time on the multiannual financial framework (MFF). All the talk here in the Belgian capital in recent months has been about security and defence. The further you go east, the more pronounced it is.
On a recent visit to Estonia, it was chilling to learn that all citizens there are on notice to find a place of sanctuary upon a three-minute warning that the Russians are about to attack. On another visit to Finland earlier in the year, farmers explained why they place special badges on their tractors to let the army know that they can be commandeered if needed if under attack. Finland has the longest border of any EU member state with Russia.
So, naturally, the EU budget is focused very much on bulking up security and defence. It cannot be at the expense of supporting agriculture, yet the proposed funding and structure of the next CAP looks like that. The proposed package announced during the summer sees the funding for CAP cut by around €70m in real money. While the original Pillar 1 is ringfenced, other funding programmes, which farmers used to be able to access under Pillar 2, will now go into one big pot under the control of each member state. It would result in a very ‘uncommon’ agricultural policy across the EU.
Since his appointment a year ago, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christoph Hansen, has been saying all the right things and there is clarity in his vision-for-agriculture document and the more recent strategy on generational renewal. But farmers and co-operatives are not seeing action; in fact the cutting of financial support under CAP shows a lack of respect for food-security concerns.
It is why upwards on 10,000 farmers from across the EU will gather in Brussels on December 18 to show solidarity with each other and vent their frustration about what they see as the EU Commission talking the talk but not walking the walk when it comes to respecting farmers, fishers, and food producers. Protest is always a last resort to highlight a crisis, and by mobilising so many farmers in late December to travel to Brussels, it shows how concerned farm organisations are about the potential impact of EU decisions regarding European food production. Wishing all readers a very happy Christmas!