Money meant for European farmers is fueling autocratic regimes
Across six years and three European nations, the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates quietly collected more than €71 million in EU agricultural subsidies—funds designed to sustain European farmers and rural communities. The Al Nahyans, whose $320 billion fortune flows largely from Gulf oil, now control Europe's single largest farm and export much of its harvest back to feed their own nation. The arrangement reveals how a subsidy architecture built on land area rather than need has become a conduit for concentrating public wealth in the hands of the already powerful—and, in this case, in the hands of a government widely criticized for repression.
- A cross-border investigation has exposed how 110 EU subsidy payments flowed to companies linked to the UAE's ruling Al Nahyan family, totaling over €71 million between 2019 and 2024.
- The family's Romanian mega-farm alone received €10.5 million in a single year—more than 1,600 times the average EU farm payment—while producing alfalfa exported to Gulf states, not European tables.
- Critics warn the system is structurally broken: the top 0.5% of landowners capture 16% of the entire EU agricultural budget, rewarding scale over stewardship.
- Advocacy groups and MEPs are sounding alarms that European taxpayer money is effectively subsidizing an authoritarian regime with a documented record of imprisoning activists and criminalizing dissent.
- The EU Commission has proposed capping direct payments at €100,000 per farmer from 2028, but corporate opacity and fragmented data mean the true scale of foreign royal benefit may never be fully known.
The European Union distributes roughly €54 billion each year in agricultural subsidies, intended to sustain rural communities and help European farmers compete globally. But a cross-border investigation by DeSmog, conducted with El Diario, G4Media and shared with the Guardian, has revealed how that system is quietly enriching one of the world's wealthiest dynasties.
The Al Nahyan family, rulers of the UAE and custodians of an estimated $320 billion in oil-derived wealth, collected more than €71 million in EU farm subsidies over six years through holdings in Romania, Italy and Spain. Researchers identified 110 payments flowing to companies linked to the family and ADQ, the UAE's sovereign wealth fund. Their Romanian holding, Agricost, operates the EU's single largest farm at 57,000 hectares—roughly five times the size of Paris—and received €10.5 million in direct payments in 2024 alone.
The expansion began in 2018 with the purchase of Agricost through Al Dahra, an agribusiness group founded by the president's brother. Spanish holdings spanning more than 8,000 hectares received over €5 million in subsidies across a decade, and the 2022 acquisition of fruit producer Unifrutti added Italian farms to the portfolio. Crucially, the crops grown on these European lands—primarily alfalfa and animal feed—are largely exported to the Gulf, fulfilling a long-term supply contract with the UAE government. The Emirates imports roughly 90 percent of its food, and the Al Nahyans have spent 15 years assembling nearly a million hectares of farmland worldwide as a strategic hedge against that vulnerability.
The subsidy system itself enables this concentration. Because EU payments are calculated by land area, larger landowners receive larger checks—a design flaw that a 2024 Guardian investigation found had delivered more than €3 billion to just 17 billionaires. The European Commission has proposed capping annual payments at €100,000 per farmer from 2028, but critics argue the reform is modest against the scale of the problem.
Policymakers and advocacy groups have reacted with alarm. An MEP from Austria's Green party noted that 99 percent of real European farmers receive less than €100,000, arguing the money was never intended for fossil fuel dynasties. A director at the European Environment Bureau called the system a failure that is now actively fueling autocratic regimes. The UAE has faced sustained international criticism for imprisoning activists and other human rights abuses—claims its government denies.
The opacity surrounding these payments is structural. EU rules require disclosure of subsidy recipients, but records typically name only the direct corporate recipient, obscuring the ultimate beneficial owner. Neither the Al Nahyan family nor ADQ responded to requests for comment. Scholars of Gulf political economy note that in the UAE, the boundary between state finances and family wealth is effectively nonexistent—a blurring that makes the flow of European public funds into royal coffers both difficult to trace and deeply consequential.
The European Union pays out roughly €54 billion each year to support farming across its member states. It is meant to sustain rural communities and help European farmers compete in global markets. But a significant portion of that money—an unknown proportion—now flows to foreign investors, including those with ties to authoritarian governments. A cross-border investigation by the environmental nonprofit DeSmog, conducted with Spain's El Diario and Romania's G4Media and shared with the Guardian, has traced how one of the world's wealthiest families has quietly captured millions in these subsidies.
The Al Nahyan family, which rules the United Arab Emirates and controls an estimated $320 billion in wealth derived largely from oil reserves, collected more than €71 million in EU agricultural subsidies over six years through farmland it controls in Romania, Italy and Spain. Researchers reviewed subsidy data from 2019 to 2024 and identified 110 payments flowing to companies and subsidiaries linked to the Al Nahyans and ADQ, the UAE's sovereign wealth fund. The scale of their European agricultural footprint is staggering. In Romania alone, they own Agricost, which operates the EU's single largest farm at 57,000 hectares—roughly five times the size of Paris. In 2024, Agricost alone received €10.5 million in direct payments, more than 1,600 times what the average EU farm collects.
The Al Nahyans began their European agricultural expansion in 2018, when they purchased Agricost through Al Dahra, an agribusiness group founded by Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president's brother. Two years later, ADQ acquired a 50 percent stake in Al Dahra. The family has since expanded through multiple companies in Spain and Italy. Their Spanish holdings, acquired since 2012, span more than 8,000 hectares and received over €5 million in subsidies between 2015 and 2024. In 2022, ADQ purchased Unifrutti, a fresh fruit producer valued at $830 million, whose Italian farms received at least €186,000 in subsidies within three years of the acquisition.
The crops grown on these subsidized European farms are not destined for European consumers. The majority of production—alfalfa and other animal feed—is exported, much of it to the Gulf states. Al Dahra holds a long-term contract to supply animal feed to the UAE government, partly for its expanding dairy sector. This arrangement sits at the heart of the UAE's broader food security strategy. The Emirates imports roughly 90 percent of its food, a vulnerability driven by extreme heat, water scarcity and sandy soil that make domestic agriculture nearly impossible. Over the past 15 years, the Al Nahyans have acquired roughly 960,000 hectares of farmland worldwide, establishing themselves as a major global agricultural player with holdings across Africa, South America and Europe.
The subsidy system itself creates the conditions for this concentration of wealth. EU agricultural payments are calculated largely on the basis of land area, which means larger landowners receive disproportionately larger checks. A 2024 Guardian investigation found that just 17 billionaires collected more than €3 billion in subsidies between 2018 and 2021. The European Commission's own data shows that the top 0.5 percent of landowners now capture 16 percent of the entire subsidy budget. In response, the Commission proposed reforms in July 2025 that would cap direct payments at €100,000 per farmer annually for the 2028 to 2034 funding cycle—a measure that would affect only a fraction of the largest recipients.
Advocacy groups and policymakers have expressed alarm at the arrangement. Faustine Bas-Defossez, director for nature, health and environment at the European Environment Bureau, called the current system a failure. "The Cap is not helping EU farmers; it continues to enrich the wealthiest landowners," she said. "And now, even worse, it is fuelling autocratic regimes." Thomas Waitz, an Austrian Green party MEP, was more pointed: "Ninety-nine percent of real European farmers receive less than €100,000 in subsidies. That money was never meant for fossil fuel dynasties, it's meant to strengthen real European farmers."
The UAE has faced sustained international criticism for its human rights record. The country has been widely condemned for imprisoning activists, criminalizing homosexuality and facing multiple allegations of torture—claims the government has repeatedly denied. Yet the Al Nahyans and their corporate entities benefit from regular EU subsidy payments with minimal scrutiny. When researchers attempted to contact the family and ADQ for comment, neither responded. The opacity is structural. EU countries are required to publish subsidy recipient data, but the records typically name only the direct recipient company, making it difficult or sometimes impossible to trace funds back to their ultimate beneficial owners. Unifrutti's farms in Sicily and Spain, for instance, received subsidies that DeSmog could not fully account for in public records.
Marc Valeri, an associate professor in political economy of the Middle East at Exeter University, explained the blurred lines between state and family interests in the UAE. "There is no clear boundary between the state and family coffers," he said. "This is a very authoritarian and repressive regime, so the difference between state budgets and family budgets is completely blurred." ADQ itself, though technically state-owned, is closely controlled by the ruling family. Between 2023 and January 2026, it was chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president's brother and the country's national security adviser. In January 2026, ADQ became part of L'imad Holding, a newer sovereign wealth fund chaired by the crown prince and the president's likely successor. The UAE's seven wealth funds collectively hold nearly $2.5 trillion in assets as of 2025, nearly all managed by close relatives of the president.
The €71 million traced by DeSmog likely represents only a partial accounting of EU subsidies benefiting Gulf royals. Patchy official data and the deliberate opacity of UAE corporate structures mean the true figure could be substantially higher. As the European Commission debates subsidy reform, the case of the Al Nahyans illustrates a fundamental tension: a system designed to support European farming has become a mechanism for transferring European taxpayer wealth to some of the world's richest families, including those running some of the world's most repressive governments.
Notable Quotes
The Cap is not helping EU farmers; it continues to enrich the wealthiest landowners. And now, even worse, it is fuelling autocratic regimes.— Faustine Bas-Defossez, European Environment Bureau
That money was never meant for fossil fuel dynasties, it's meant to strengthen real European farmers.— Thomas Waitz, Austrian Green party MEP
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that the UAE is receiving EU farm subsidies? Aren't subsidies just part of how agriculture works?
The subsidies themselves aren't the problem—it's who's receiving them and why. These payments were created to support European farmers and rural communities. Instead, they're flowing to a family worth $320 billion that's using European land and European money to feed its own population thousands of miles away.
But the Al Nahyans own the land legally. If they own a farm in Romania, shouldn't they be eligible for the same payments as anyone else?
That's the technical argument, yes. But the system was never designed for this. It assumes farmers are embedded in their communities, dependent on the land for their livelihood. The Al Nahyans are using European subsidies as part of a state strategy to secure food imports. It's a different category of actor entirely.
What's the human cost here? Who loses?
European taxpayers fund these subsidies. And European farmers—the people the system was meant to help—receive a fraction of what goes to the largest landowners. Ninety-nine percent of EU farmers get less than €100,000 annually. Meanwhile, one Romanian farm gets €10.5 million in a single year. The money is finite. Every euro going to the Al Nahyans is a euro not going to someone else.
Is there a transparency problem, or is this just how the system works?
Both. The system allows it because subsidy records only name the direct recipient company, not the ultimate owner. So you can own a farm through a shell company and the public has no way to know who actually benefits. That opacity is partly accidental, partly structural. But it enables exactly this kind of arrangement.
What happens next?
The EU Commission has proposed capping payments at €100,000 per farmer starting in 2028. If that passes, it would reduce what the largest landowners receive. But it would only affect about 0.5 percent of the top landowners. The real question is whether policymakers will push for stronger transparency requirements and ownership disclosure. Without that, the same money will just flow through different corporate structures.