The ruling royal family of the United Arab Emirates received more than 70 million euros in European Union agricultural subsidies [1].
This discovery highlights a gap in the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), where wealthy foreign entities can access funds intended to support regional farmers. The payments underscore the global nature of agricultural land ownership and the potential for high-net-worth individuals to profit from public subsidies.
The Al Nahyan family collected these funds through agricultural holdings located within the EU [1], [2]. According to reports, the total amount received ranged between 70 million euros [1] and more than 71 million euros [2].
These payments occurred over a period of six years [2]. The investigation specifies that the window of these disbursements spanned from early 2015 to 2020 [2].
The Common Agricultural Policy is designed to provide financial support to farmers to ensure food security, and maintain the rural economy within the EU [1], [2]. Because the royal family owned eligible agricultural land within the EU borders, they qualified for the payouts under the existing framework of the program [1], [2].
While the subsidies are legal under the current rules of the CAP, the scale of the payments to a foreign ruling family has drawn scrutiny. The program is primarily intended to sustain small and medium-sized farms facing economic volatility—a stark contrast to the financial standing of the Al Nahyan family [2].
“The ruling royal family of the United Arab Emirates received more than 70 million euros in European Union agricultural subsidies.”
This situation exposes a systemic loophole in the EU's agricultural funding, where the criteria for subsidies are based on land ownership rather than the financial need of the owner. By allowing foreign royals to collect millions in public funds, the EU faces political pressure to reform the Common Agricultural Policy to ensure that subsidies reach the intended regional producers rather than global investors.
