In its press release published last week, 'Arbitrages français PAC 2026: la bio et les fruits et légumes doivent être réellement soutenus' (French PAC 2026 arbitrations: organic farming and fruit and vegetables must receive real support), Confédération Paysanne calls for a review of coupled aid for small-scale producers and the return of aid to maintain organic farming.
"More than ever, the PAC* budget must be preserved to support all types of production, including those in difficulty [...] We are calling for a change in the implementation of 2 envelopes that are largely underused: the one dedicated to organic farming and the one for 'small producers', so that they can finally be used."
Coupled aid for "small production" excludes fruit producers and farms of less than 3 hectares
Coupled aid for "small production" is the only PAC support* for a majority of vegetable producers, even though France has a huge deficit, and these producers have never received any production support. Despite our warnings, this aid was badly calibrated from the start, excluding fruit producers and limiting the size of eligible farms to 3 hectares. Its lack of implementation since 2023 also calls for a review of the eligibility criteria:
- maintain a minimum amount of €1,588/ha [1,774 USD/ha] limited to the first 3 hectares of production with GAEC transparency,
- distinguish between the UAA* ceiling and the surface area receiving aid (3ha), to ensure that the budget is used up, and to increase the number of beneficiaries of coupled production aid.
- provide widespread information on the existence of the scheme: the French Ministry has identified 1,160 farms that are potentially eligible for this coupled aid, but were not applying for it.
Unused aid for conversion to organic farming must be redistributed
As far as support for organic farming is concerned, Confédération Paysanne is demanding that the entire unused envelope earmarked for conversion to organic farming be redirected towards farms committed to organic farming. Given the interest and positive benefits of this method of production, without GMOs or synthetic pesticides, we must remember, for the soil, water quality and consumers, as well as the economic difficulties faced by farmers, that the only possible signal is that of strong, long-term support.
The budget earmarked for conversion has been grossly underspent over the last two years, leaving a surplus. It is imperative that this surplus is channelled towards organic producers. The aim is to keep all the farms that are already involved in organic farming and to avoid any conversions. For several months now, Confédération Paysanne has been proposing that this remainder be used for aid to maintain organic farming everywhere in France. This is the only measure capable of securing organic farmers in the long term and giving them prospects for the future. Many EU member states* are doing it, so why not France? The French Ministry must stop using "IT" arguments to prevent these systems from evolving.
The union is also calling for the "small farmer" scheme to be opened up
Finally, as part of the upcoming simplification measures, the European Commission could propose raising the flat-rate "small farmer" aid from €1,250 to €2,500 [1,396 to 2,792 USD]. This would be a step in the right direction, given that we want to reach €5,000 [5,585 USD]. We are therefore reiterating our request that this scheme be made available in France from 2026. The EU framework* allows member states to introduce this aid, but so far, France has refused to do so.