France and Its Farmers: How Paris Supports Its Land, What More It Can Do, and the War with Spain and Italy Inside the European House
Analysis as of 19 May 2026
1. The Starting Point: France Is the Largest Agricultural Power in the EU
Before examining how Paris supports its farmers, one fact must be set out: France is the EU's number one agricultural power, by both production and the budget it receives from Brussels. France receives the biggest share of EU agricultural funding — in 2023, a total of €9.5 billion combined from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, followed by Spain (€7.1 billion), Germany (€6.4 billion), and Italy.
This means France's relationship with its farmers is not just internal politics — it is the political and economic centre of gravity of European agriculture. Whatever happens in France echoes across all 27 member states.
2. How the State Supports Its Farmers — the Three-Layer System
French support consists of three layers, working in parallel.
Layer 1: EU CAP funds (the foundation)
From 2023 to 2027, France receives €7.285 billion annually under CAP Pillar I (direct income support) and €1.459 billion under Pillar II (rural development). In total, around €43.7 billion over the period 2023-2027.
The most important reform of the current CAP cycle for France is internal convergence: by 2026, 96% of farms will have payment entitlements within ±10% of the national average value (compared with 69% in 2019 and only 29% in 2015). In other words, no farm will have entitlements below 90% of the average. This is a quiet but enormous redistribution of money from large farms to medium-sized ones.
Layer 2: National budget and emergency aid
When crises strike — droughts, floods, animal disease, geopolitical shocks — the French state activates additional national money. Recent examples:
- 2023 drought: €500 million in emergency aid.
- February 2024: €436 million package after farmers blockaded Paris and other cities.
- 2023: A €500 million scheme approved by the European Commission to support investments in agricultural holding companies.
Layer 3: Regulatory protections and trade policy
This is where France differs most from other member states. Paris uses non-financial tools to protect its farmers:
- Mirror clauses: Demands that imports meet the same standards as domestic production.
- Tightening import controls: In January 2026, Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard announced a new decree suspending imports of certain products containing banned substances, ensuring all foreign goods comply with the same strict standards as locally produced food.
- Diplomatic offensive against trade deals deemed harmful: see the Mercosur conflict in section 4.
3. The Specifics of CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 for France
France made several strategic choices in its CAP strategic plan that say a lot about its priorities:
- Targeted support for sectors in difficulty — basic income support is distributed in a more equitable manner, with a progressive convergence reaching 90% by 2026. France chose to target support to sectors in difficulty, which are essential to the resilience of the territories.
- Support for young farmers — additional income support for young farmers now comes as a uniform flat-rate amount per farm (about €3,885 per year for up to 5 years, reaching more than €19,400 of cumulative support — compared with €12,500 for 80% of beneficiaries between 2015 and 2020).
- Transfer to Pillar II — France moved €2.742 billion from Pillar I to Pillar II (7.53%), meaning more money for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Of this, €3.586 billion is dedicated to compensatory allowances.
In simple terms: France redirects more EU money to the most vulnerable farms and to rural development, rather than to the largest agricultural businesses.
4. The Mercosur Crisis — Why Paris and Brussels Are at War
The biggest story of 2025-2026 is the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, which entered provisional application on 1 May 2026. The EU-Mercosur trade deal that applies provisionally from 1 May 2026 creates a trading zone of 700 million people altogether.
Why France strongly opposed
France opposes Mercosur because Brazilian and Argentine producers can produce beef, sugar, ethanol, chicken, and corn at lower prices, using methods that are forbidden in the EU (certain pesticides, hormones, more intensive land use). For a French farmer who has to comply with EU Green Deal rules, this is direct unfair competition.
How the protests unfolded
- November 2024 - January 2026: Months of tractor protests across France and the EU. French farmers held a second day of protests over EU-Mercosur trade talks, with the hardline Coordination Rurale union dumping Spanish wine and blocking official buildings as a prelude to threatened disruption to food supply chains.
- December 2025: About 1,000 tractors rolled into Brussels for a tense standoff with riot police near the European Parliament.
- January 2026: French farmers stormed Paris with tractors, bypassing police barriers to reach landmarks like the Eiffel Tower.
- 8 January 2026: French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that Paris would oppose the Mercosur trade deal in a crucial vote in Brussels on Friday. If a qualified majority of member states backed the agreement, as expected, it would mark a major setback for the French leader.
- 9 January 2026: EU member states gave the green light to the signing of the Mercosur agreement. France, however, planned to continue its fight against the deal in the European Parliament.
How the Commission tried to placate France and Italy
To buy France's and Italy's support, Ursula von der Leyen made an extraordinary offer: early access to €45 billion from the next Common Agricultural Policy budget starting in 2028, on top of a €6.3 billion safety net under the next long-term EU budget.
For Italy, Meloni accepted the offer. For France, Macron refused — and France was outvoted in the Council. This is one of the rare cases in recent EU history when France was overruled on a major economic question.
5. Does France Suffer from Its Neighbours Spain and Italy?
The short answer: yes, but the nature of the conflict is different in each case, and it is not always a one-way street.
Spain — the more direct competitor
Spain is France's biggest agricultural challenger in the EU. Spanish farmers compete with French ones in vegetables, fruit, wine, olives, and meat — often at lower prices.
Why this hurts the French:
- Spanish vegetables and fruit reach Northern European supermarkets earlier (Spain has a warmer climate) and cheaper.
- Spanish wine (especially from La Mancha) competes head-on with French wine from Languedoc and the Rhône, often at half the price.
- Spanish olive oil dominates the European market — Spain produces around 50% of world olive oil, while France produces less than 1%.
Concrete conflicts:
- November 2024: Members of France's Coordination Rurale union descended on the Spanish border to check merchandise coming in from Spain, emptying white wine from a lorry.
- June 2024: Spanish and French farmers blocked roads along the border through the Pyrenees mountains ahead of European Parliament elections — but jointly, against imports from outside the EU.
The paradox: Spanish and French farmers are competitors among themselves, but allies against non-EU imports.
Italy — partner, not enemy
The situation with Italy is fundamentally different. Italy is a much smaller producer than France or Spain (especially in grain), but it is a giant in processed foods (pasta, cheese, wine, olive oil, processed tomatoes).
The key fact: Italy holds a historical export record in 2025 of €73 billion (across the whole agri-food sector). This means Italy depends on exports — including to France.
On most contested EU issues, France and Italy stand together:
- Both oppose Mercosur (although Italy ultimately accepted with concessions, France did not).
- Both demand carbon border tax exemptions for imported fertilisers — France and Italy are calling on the European Commission to exempt carbon tariffs on imported fertilisers from the bloc's carbon border tax (CBAM), which came into force on January 1, 2026.
- Both pressure Brussels for more CAP money for the period 2028-2034.
Where they collide: in wine. Italian Prosecco and French Champagne compete fiercely on the global market, and Italian wine exports have grown faster than French wine exports over the past decade.
6. What More France Can Do — Five Levers
Macron and Agriculture Minister Genevard have several available levers, only some of which have been used:
1. Tougher mirror clauses
France has imposed national rules on imports, but at the EU level enforcement remains weak. Possible move: push Brussels to make mirror clauses mandatory for all trade deals, not optional.
2. CBAM exemption for fertilisers
This is currently the top fight. French and Italian officials are concerned that their country's agricultural sector would be exposed to a "significant increase" in the cost of fertilisers imported into the EU, with the prices estimated to rise by around 25% due to the new taxes. With the Iran war driving Hormuz blockade and fertilizer prices already up 30-40%, CBAM is an additional blow. France actively seeks a freeze.
3. Crisis reserves with rapid disbursement
France has shown it can rapidly disburse €400-500 million in emergency aid, but the mechanism remains ad hoc. Possible move: create a permanent fertilizer-and-fuel crisis reserve that automatically activates when input prices exceed predefined thresholds.
4. Direct national subsidies to compensate for green policies
If France wants to keep its strict environmental standards (Green Deal, water management, pesticide reduction), it must compensate farmers for these costs — otherwise they go bankrupt and lose to Spanish and Brazilian competition. The current French approach is partial; a more systematic compensation scheme would be needed.
5. Coalition-building in Brussels
France is moving toward a southern European coalition (with Italy, Spain on some issues, and Greece) against the freer-trade-oriented Northern European countries (Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia). This is the most strategic of all options and the one Macron is actively pursuing through 2026.
7. What This Means for the Common European Home
The picture in May 2026 is the following:
Cracks in the European agricultural model:
- The Mercosur agreement passed despite French opposition — a sign that France no longer holds an absolute veto on EU agricultural matters.
- The new CAP for 2028-2034 will be smaller in real terms — there is talk of a €90 billion cut, against which Italy is fighting fiercely.
- The Green Deal is being watered down — the EU has removed a goal to cut farming emissions from its 2040 climate roadmap, but the basic regulations remain.
The fundamental conflict:
The European agricultural model rests on three pillars that are now in tension with one another:
- High environmental and social standards (Green Deal, animal welfare, pesticide rules).
- Free trade and open markets (Mercosur, CETA, agreements with Australia and New Zealand).
- Income support to farmers (CAP).
You cannot simultaneously have high standards, free trade, and viable farmer incomes — at least two of the three lose. France wants pillars 1 and 3, while opposing pillar 2. The Netherlands and Germany want pillars 1 and 2. Spain and Italy fluctuate. This is the root conflict that will define European agricultural policy through 2030.
The geopolitical context of 2026:
All of this happens against the backdrop of:
- The Iran war and the Hormuz blockade (fertilizer and fuel prices up).
- The U.S.-Canada trade tensions (Canadian wheat and potash become strategic for Europe).
- The CBAM coming into force (more expensive imports of fertilisers).
- The collapse of U.S. wheat production (less competition on the global market, but also fewer global supplies).
In this context, France is fighting for two things at once: to protect its farmers from cheap imports and to ensure that its farmers can profit from the global crisis. These are two compatible goals — but only if Paris succeeds in convincing Brussels to act in a coordinated manner.
Conclusion: France as the "Conscience" of European Agriculture
France is the most loud, the most demanding, and the most consistent defender of farmer interests in the EU. Without French pressure, the CAP would probably be smaller, trade agreements would pass more easily, and environmental standards would be applied more aggressively against farmers' interests.
But France is not winning all the fights. Mercosur passed despite French opposition. CAP for 2028-2034 will be reduced. Spanish competition does not disappear — it grows.
Macron's strategic dilemma: how to remain the leader of European agriculture in a Union that is moving toward freer trade, while at the same time French farmers face structural challenges (climate change, ageing population, declining numbers) that no amount of subsidy can solve.
For Bulgarian and Eastern European farmers, France is both an example and a competitor: an example of how a country defends its sector politically, and a competitor on European markets where French quality products (wine, cheese, grain) hold market share.
The 2026 crisis is in fact an opportunity for France — high global prices for wheat and other commodities increase the income of its grain farmers, while at the same time creating space for political consolidation against Mercosur. But for Macron to use this opportunity, he must succeed in transforming protest into policy and outrage into European law. By the end of 2026 we will know whether he has succeeded.