Commission to ditch regions with €800bn cash-for-reform plan

Euractiv

14-07-2025

The system mirrors the EU's COVID-19 recovery fund, where the Commission negotiated directly with national capitals and bypassed regions in managing implementation Euractiv is part of the Trust Project Jacob Wulff Wold Euractiv Jul 14, 2025 16:59 2 min. read News
Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
The Commission is set to push ahead with plans to condition farming and regional funds on domestic reforms in the 2028–2034 budget, according to a draft regulation seen by Euractiv.
The idea had already triggered months of backlash from 19 member states, 149 regions, and even Ursula von der Leyen's own political party, the centre-right EPP, arguing that such a plan would erode regional autonomy and unfairly penalise local authorities for national-level decisions.
At the heart of it is a radical reshaping of the bloc's two largest spending programmes: the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Cohesion funds, meant for poorer regions across the bloc.
Brussels wants to fold the roughly €800 billion allocated to those funds into 27 national cash pots, making money contingent on EU-approved national reforms.
"Moving from close to 540 programmes to 27 National and Regional Partnership (NRP) Plans will reduce administrative costs at all levels," the draft regulation reads.
Each government would be required to submit a national plan outlining its "agenda of reforms, investments, and other interventions," and would only receive funds after approval from the Commission and the Council.
The plan is inspired by the EU's €650 billion COVID recovery loan, where the Commission sidestepped regions by negotiating with capitals, leaving implementation in the hands of national authorities.
Von der Leyen floated the idea of partnerships in May, but left open how far-reaching the reform would need to be, reassuring both regions and farmers that they would maintain a central place.
Farmers secured protection for their €291 billion in direct income support in the next budget, but saw their €96 billion regional fund fully subsumed, as first reported by Euractiv.
The final version of the document, including funding numbers, is set to be presented on Wednesday.
Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro contributed to reporting.
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