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DRAFT REPORT (2026/2041(INI))

On generational renewal in agriculture

AGRI-PR-788831

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development · Rapporteur: Maria Walsh

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 25 Sept 2026

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This is a draft report by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on generational renewal in agriculture. It warns that the proposed reduction of the 2028-2034 common agricultural policy (CAP) budget risks undermining generational renewal and calls for 10 % of that budget to be ring-fenced for young farmers. It asks for better access to land, tailored finance and risk-management tools, easier farm succession, stronger skills and innovation, and measures to make rural life viable, including support for women and an EU mental health action plan for agriculture. It also calls for increased, ring-fenced LEADER funding in the 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes that Parliament call for dedicated funding for generational renewal, including ring-fencing 10 % of the post-2027 CAP budget, and for action on land access, finance, succession, skills and rural quality of life.

Key points

  1. Stresses that generational renewal is essential for the resilience and competitiveness of EU agriculture and for food security.
  2. Warns that the proposed reduction of the 2028-2034 CAP budget risks undermining generational renewal and calls for 10 % of the post-2027 CAP budget to be ring-fenced for young farmers and generational renewal.
  3. Calls for an integrated approach linking CAP support with land, finance, succession, education and rural services, and for recognition of islands, mountain areas, uplands, outermost regions and areas with natural or structural constraints.
  4. Welcomes the proposed 2028-2034 CAP farmer starter pack and one-stop shops, and calls on the Commission to increase targeted income support for young farmers and extend support periods.
  5. Calls on Member States to improve land access for young farmers and new entrants through scoring systems, pre-emptive rights, collaborative farming, collective land acquisition and land-matching, and invites the Commission to make the EU Land Observatory fully operational.
  6. Stresses that payment entitlements should support generational renewal by ensuring fair access, preventing speculative transfers and aligning with farm succession and land mobility.
  7. Calls for tailored financial instruments for young farmers and new entrants, including blended finance, guarantees, revolving funds, low-interest loans and long-term credit, and for stronger risk-management tools.
  8. Invites Member States to review pension schemes and retirement conditions and introduce incentives for gradual retirement, and encourages integrated advisory models for succession planning.
  9. Calls for stronger support for new entrants, people from non-farming backgrounds, cooperative farming models and innovative access to productive assets.
  10. Stresses the importance of vocational education, lifelong learning, digital and entrepreneurial skills, and partnerships between young farmers, organisations, cooperatives, research institutions and companies.
  11. Calls on Member States to strengthen farm relief services covering sickness, annual and parental leave and training, and invites the Commission to develop an EU mental health action plan for agriculture.
  12. Calls for targeted support for young female farmers and new entrants, women-focused advisory and mentoring programmes, and concrete actions in national generational renewal strategies, and calls for increased, ring-fenced LEADER funding in the 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework.

Who is affected

  • Young farmers and new entrants in the EU, who would benefit from dedicated funding, land access measures, finance and advisory support.
  • Member States, which are called on to improve land access, review pension schemes and include actions on women in national strategies.
  • The Commission, which is asked to increase income support, make the EU Land Observatory operational and develop a mental health action plan.
  • Young female farmers, who face persistent gender inequalities and would receive targeted support and mentoring.

Figures and deadlines

  • 10 % of the post-2027 CAP budget to be ring-fenced for young farmers and generational renewal
  • average age of EU farmers rose from 55 in 2010 to 57 in 2020
  • women account for only 26 % of farmers under the age of 40
  • number of farms managed by farmers under 35 fell by 47 % between 2010 and 2023
  • young farmers faced a financing gap of EUR 14.1 billion in 2022, 11 % higher than in 2017

Legal basis: Articles 38, 39 and 174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union