MEP Nina Carberry has said a transitional CAP regulation is increasingly likely following talks with Parliament’s lead CAP negotiator, Norbert Lins in Strasbourg today.

However, Carberry, who is drafting the Budget Committee’s report on the 2028-2034 CAP, warned that extending existing schemes would not automatically protect farmers’ payments.

“A transition would mean ‘new money, old rules’. Essentially by using the next EU budget to fund support under the existing CAP. But continuing with the existing CAP rules does not guarantee the same level of funding. In the now very likely case of a transitional regulation, there has to be continuity of payments to farmers. That is what our committee is now examining closely,” she said.

Carberry also reiterated Parliament’s call for a €433 billion CAP budget and rejected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s recent demands for sweeping cuts to EU spending.

Uncertainty over whether CAP will retain a standalone fund or be integrated into National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) would make this transition particularly complex, Carberry added, reinforcing the need for clearly ringfenced agricultural funding.

Her report, expected to be finalised in the coming weeks, will feed the Budget Committee’s recommendations into the Agriculture Committee’s negotiations, linking commitments on farm support to the resources needed to deliver them.

This comes as MEP Norbert Lins convenes a meeting of lead MEPs from all political groups this evening in Strasbourg for further CAP discussions.

With the Irish Presidency expected to present an updated budget negotiating text in the coming weeks, Carberry called for concrete funding figures to be included as soon as possible.

“Farmers need to know what will be available, under what rules and from when. My report is now focused on ensuring that commitments to farmers are backed by a sufficient, protected budget”, she concluded.