Commission clears 277 million lei Romanian cattle aid amid Middle East crisis

The European Commission has authorised a Romanian State aid scheme worth 277 184 320 lei to support cattle breeders affected by the crisis in the Middle East. The decision was adopted on 14 September 2026 in case SA.124647 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C series, on 5 October 2026 as notice C/2026/5121. The Commission raised no objections to the measure.

The authorisation was granted under Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the provisions that govern State aid in the single market. The notice appears in the Official Journal’s list of aid cases cleared without objections, meaning the Commission concluded that the scheme is compatible with the internal market. The scheme is titled METSAF: Susținerea activității crescătorilor din sectorul bovin, în anul 2026, în contextul crizei din Orientul Mijlociu, which translates as support for the activity of bovine-sector breeders in 2026 in the context of the Middle East crisis.

A direct grant for cattle and dairy farms

The measure is a scheme financed through direct grants, with agriculture, forestry and rural areas as its stated objective. It covers three economic sectors:

• Raising of dairy cattle.
• Raising of other cattle and buffaloes.
• Mixed farming.

The beneficiary Member State and the region concerned are both Romania. The scheme is aimed at breeders in the bovine sector, including dairy and beef producers and mixed farms.

Budget and duration

The overall budget of the scheme is 277 184 320 RON, and the annual budget is the same figure, so the entire envelope is planned for a single year of spending. The measure runs until 31 December 2026. The notice records no aid intensity figure.

Legal basis and granting authority

The scheme rests on Lege nr. 176/2026, the Romanian law establishing a State aid scheme to support the activity of bovine-sector breeders in 2026 in the context of the Middle East crisis. The granting authority is the Ministerul Agriculturii și Dezvoltării Rurale, the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, based at Blvd. Carol I nr. 4, Sector 3, Bucharest.

The notice is filed under the heading “Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union — Cases where the Commission raises no objections”. The authentic text of the decision, with confidential information removed, is available through the Commission’s State aid case search. The notice carries the European Legislation Identifier http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/5121/oj.

For Romanian cattle and dairy farmers, the clearance unlocks a national envelope of more than 277 million lei before the end of the year, at a time when the Middle East conflict has driven up energy and input costs across the Union. It also confirms that emergency farm support linked to that conflict continues to pass the Commission’s State aid scrutiny.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C series, C/2026/5121, 5 October 2026 (official reference: C/2026/5121).