Ireland’s MEP on the European Parliament’s Budget Committee, Nina Carberry, has revealed that in recent days, the parliament’s two largest parties are weighing an outright rejection of a major part of the EU budget unless the European Commission changes course.

The commission has proposed merging agricultural and cohesion funds into new National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPP), a move Carberry described as “unacceptable” and a “smokescreen to cut funding for farmers”.

Last week, Carberry and her European People's Party (EPP) Budget Committee colleagues met Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, Piotr Serafin in Poland to discuss the commission’s first proposal.

It's understood they expressed their strong opposition to renationalising and merging budget lines in the NRPP.

“MEPs from the both the EPP and the Social Democrats are ready to push back and demand the commission withdraw key elements of this proposal if they are not revised," MEP Carberry said.

"Farmers must not pay the price for budget cuts masked as simplification,” Carberry said.

The warning comes as MEPs prepare to vote in Strasbourg this week on increasing funding for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) by €3.5 billion under the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

“This week’s vote to top up the existing CAP shows parliament’s clear commitment to supporting farmers and speeding up CAP Strategic Plans for 2023–2027," Carberry added.

“However, looking at the bigger picture, if future CAP plans post-2028 do not change in a meaningful way, I cannot see how the parliament would support them.

“At present, there is simply not enough acknowledgment or support for farmers and their vital role in ensuring food security," she said.