Politics · Germany · 8 hrs ago
Economists call for an end to broad agricultural subsidies
The Kronberger Kreis has called for broad farm subsidies to end in Germany and across the EU.
The group, made up of economists and legal scholars, says general payments to farms are not justified, though targeted help may address problems such as environmental damage.
Its proposal comes as the EU prepares negotiations on its budget for 2028 to 2034, which the group says offer a chance to reshape farm policy.
Farm subsidies in Germany total more than €10 billion a year, and government payments accounted for about 42% of farm income over the past five years, the experts say.
They also want agriculture to face the same competition rules as other industries and to have less paperwork.
They argue food security depends on open markets and varied suppliers, not high levels of domestic production alone.
The experts propose phasing out subsidies through a transition period, but say cutting them will be politically difficult; the sources do not say whether governments will adopt the proposals.
The Kronberger Kreis, a group of economists and legal scholars, has called for an end to agricultural subsidies.
The group argues that broad subsidies lack a convincing economic justification and should be replaced by targeted measures for environmental problems.
It proposes ending national support programmes and phasing out European direct payments as part of a reform of the EU’s common agricultural policy.
The economists say Germany’s agricultural subsidies from the EU, federal government and states exceed €10 billion a year.
The proposals come ahead of negotiations on the EU’s 2028–2034 multi-year budget.
- Who
- The Kronberger Kreis, a group of economists and legal scholars, made the proposal.
- What
- It called for agricultural subsidies to be phased out, alongside other reforms to competition rules, bureaucracy and environmental policy.
- When
- The proposal was reported on 22 October 2026.
- Where
- The proposal concerns Germany’s agricultural subsidies and the EU’s common agricultural policy.
- Why
- The group says broad subsidies lack a convincing economic justification and that targeted measures are better suited to addressing market failures and environmental problems.
Kronberger Kreis
German Farmers' Association
Agricultural subsidies
Kronberger Kreis
The group calls for all agricultural subsidies to end.
German Farmers' Association
The FAZ reports that abolition would be a nightmare for the association.
Plans by the then German coalition government to cut agricultural diesel subsidies led to weeks of nationwide tractor demonstrations.
The agricultural diesel tax refund was restored in full.
The Kronberger Kreis’s call to end agricultural subsidies was reported.
The upcoming negotiations on the EU’s multi-year financial framework are presented by the economists as an opportunity to reshape agricultural policy.
- Annual German agricultural subsidies
- More than €10 billion from the EU, federal government and states
- Share of farm income
- About 42% came from state transfers over the past five years
- Agriculture’s economic contribution
- Less than 1% of Germany’s overall economic value added
- Proposed EU reform
- Phase out direct payments under the common agricultural policy
- Kronberger Kreis membership
- Six scholars, including Lars Feld, Clemens Fuest and Justus Haucap
2 sources
What people are saying
There is no convincing economic justification for this extent of state intervention.
Food security does not depend on the highest possible national self-sufficiency rates, but on open markets, diverse sources of supply and suitable precautions for exceptional crisis situations.
We have moved away from discussing the principles at all, and have got used to the idea that it is God-given that agriculture is subsidised.