EU states invoke climate change in farm budget debate
As the EU negotiates its next budget, several member states are citing climate change — particularly drought and wildfires — to justify preserving agricultural funding. Portugal has proposed using EU money to pay for goat herds that could help prevent wildfires.
Climate arguments enter budget talks
As European Union budget negotiations continue, several member states are searching for new arguments to defend funding for agriculture. Increasingly, governments are pointing to climate change — especially to drought periods that have become a near-annual occurrence in European farming — as justification for keeping money flowing into the sector.
Portugal has put forward an unusual proposal: using EU funds to cover the cost of keeping goat herds whose grazing habits help reduce wildfire risk. The idea rests on the fact that abandoned farmland across Europe increasingly fills with dry vegetation that fuels fires, while livestock — goats in particular — can clear that vegetation by grazing on it.
Crisis tools built for a different era
At the same time, critics argue that the EU's existing crisis reserve mechanisms still treat drought as a rare, unpredictable shock rather than a recurring feature of the farming calendar. As a result, farmers in regions where dry seasons have become routine may not receive adequate or timely support under the current system.
More broadly across Europe, the overgrowth of abandoned agricultural land is seen as a growing wildfire risk, and using grazing livestock to manage that land is being floated as a relatively low-cost solution that could also support rural economies.
Talks on how to balance climate adaptation measures against traditional farm subsidies are expected to continue, as EU member states have yet to agree on a shared approach for the next budget period.
