On 3 June 2026, the European Parliament's Budgets, Regional Development and Agriculture committees held a joint meeting to debate the draft regulation on national and regional partnership plans for 2028–2034, covering cohesion, CAP, fisheries, prosperity and security. Rapporteurs Karlo Ressler (EPP), Andrey Novakov (EPP) and Elsi Katainen (Renew) pursued amendments rather than rejection, highlighting delegated acts, ring-fencing, an 11% urban earmark, n+3, higher prefinancing, anti-centralization, a 5% reserve, and protection of CAP pillars.
Key divergences emerged on the single fund architecture. Cristina Maestre (S&D), Tamás Deutsch (PfE), João Oliveira (The Left) and others rejected the merger as weakening sectoral identities and risking renationalization, while Ressler and Novakov worked within the framework to improve accountability. On multilevel governance, many speakers demanded stronger partnership and regional involvement, with Ľubica Karvašová (Renew) and Gordan Bosanac (Greens/EFA) pushing for direct access, while António Tânger Corrêa (PfE) stressed compatibility with national structures.
Parliamentary control was a major concern: Damian Boeselager (Greens/EFA) and Thomas Geisel (NI) warned of Commission dominance, while Ressler and Novakov insisted on Parliament's final role. On CAP, Elsi Katainen, Norbert Lins (EPP) and others defended two pillars and sectoral safeguards, while Commission representatives argued integrated programming retained all interventions.
Conditionality split groups: PfE and some ECR speakers rejected rule-of-law links, while Greens/EFA and Renew supported smart conditionality to protect beneficiaries. Simplification claims were questioned by Tamás Deutsch and Klara Dostalova (PfE), who warned of new burdens.
Consensus emerged on stronger regional involvement, n+3, CAP visibility, and protecting final beneficiaries. Next steps: amendments due 16 June, next joint meeting 14 July. Affected stakeholders include regional and local authorities, farmers, fisheries, and cohesion beneficiaries.