The ruling royal family of the United Arab Emirates is reportedly reaping substantial benefits from European Union subsidies aimed at agricultural development, with revelations indicating that they have received tens of millions of euros for crop production intended for the Gulf region.
An investigation conducted jointly by DeSmog and shared with the Guardian has uncovered that enterprises linked to the Al Nahyan family have amassed over €71 million (£61 million) in subsidies over a six-year period for agricultural land they own in Romania, Italy, and Spain.
The Al Nahyan family ranks as one of the wealthiest in the world, boasting an estimated fortune exceeding $320 billion (£235 billion), largely from the UAE’s extensive oil reserves.
Subsidies provided under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) account for approximately one-third of the EU’s total budget, distributing around €54 billion annually to farmers and rural communities throughout the union.
However, a significant portion of these funds is reportedly funneled to foreign investors, including entities affiliated with authoritarian regimes.
In collaboration with Spain’s El Diario and the Romanian news organization G4Media, DeSmog examined data concerning thousands of CAP beneficiaries from 2019 to 2024. This analysis traced 110 subsidy payments back to a network of firms and subsidiaries under the control of the Al Nahyan family and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, ADQ.
The largest subsidy payments were linked to Agricost, a Romanian agricultural firm that operates the EU’s largest single farm, encompassing 57,000 hectares (141,000 acres)—five times larger than Paris.
Investigations by the Guardian in 2024 revealed that large landowners disproportionately benefit from EU farm subsidies. For instance, just 17 billionaires collectively received over €3 billion between 2018 and 2021. In 2024, Agricost alone received €10.5 million in direct payments—more than 1,600 times the average amount allocated to EU farms.
Advocacy groups have raised concerns about the UAE’s receipt of EU agricultural subsidies, especially given the country’s notorious record on human rights, including the imprisonment of activists and the criminalization of homosexuality—allegations that the UAE denies.
Efforts to obtain comments from the Al Nahyan family and the companies mentioned in the report were unsuccessful, and ADQ also declined to provide a response.
This investigation emerges as EU policymakers engage in discussions regarding the future of the subsidy program. In July 2025, the European Commission proposed adjustments to CAP payments for the upcoming 2028 to 2034 period, which may impose a cap of €100,000 per farmer per year for land-based payments.
A spokesperson for the European Commission indicated that there is a belief that income support through CAP payments should be more effectively targeted, which includes reducing and capping payments for larger farms. The Commission is urging both the European Parliament and the Council to endorse its proposed revisions to the subsidy framework.
Faustine Bas-Defossez, director for nature, health, and environment at the European Environment Bureau, commented, “The CAP is failing to support EU farmers; it continues to enrich the wealthiest landowners, and increasingly, it is aiding autocratic regimes.”
The Al Nahyan family is recognized as the most influential monarchy in the UAE, a federation composed of seven states, each led by its own royal family. The UAE’s president and leader of Abu Dhabi is Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Over the past 15 years, the Emirati ruling family has emerged as a significant player in global agriculture, acquiring extensive tracts of land and agribusiness ventures across Africa, South America, and Europe. The UAE currently oversees around 960,000 hectares of farmland globally.
This agricultural expansion aligns with the UAE’s broader strategy for food security, aimed at ensuring a steady supply of food for a nation where extreme temperatures, limited water resources, and sandy soils complicate agricultural practices. The UAE imports up to 90% of its food requirements.
The investigation revealed that the UAE’s agricultural expansion within the EU is primarily through three key companies located in Spain, Italy, and Romania.
Agricost, the vast Romanian farm, was acquired by the Al Nahyan family in 2018 for an estimated €230 million through Al Dahra, a UAE agribusiness conglomerate. Al Dahra was established by the president’s brother, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, before Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, acquired a 50% stake in the company in 2020.
Details regarding Al Dahra’s current ownership structure are not publicly available, but it is understood that it remains connected to individuals on its board, chaired by Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, and includes his son, Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, who is married to the daughter of the UAE president.
Since 2012, Al Dahra has also purchased numerous agricultural firms in Spain, overseeing over 8,000 hectares of land. Collectively, these entities received more than €5 million in CAP subsidies from 2015 to 2024, as identified by DeSmog.
Both the UAE’s Spanish and Romanian farms primarily produce alfalfa and other crops for animal feed, with the majority intended for export, including to the Gulf. Al Dahra has a long-term agreement with the UAE government to supply animal feed, which supports the country’s rapidly expanding dairy industry.
In 2022, ADQ also acquired Unifrutti, a fresh fruit producer valued at approximately $830 million. According to DeSmog’s findings, Unifrutti’s Italian operations received at least €186,000 in CAP subsidies in the three years following the acquisition.
The scale of payments directed to the UAE highlights significant flaws in the methodology used to allocate CAP subsidies, which are primarily determined based on the area of land farmed. The European Commission’s suggestion to impose caps on direct payments would affect only a small fraction (0.5%) of the EU’s largest landowners, who currently receive 16% of the entire CAP budget.
Thomas Waitz, an Austrian Green party MEP and coordinator for the agriculture committee, labeled the UAE’s receipt of EU subsidies as “a scandal hiding in plain sight.” He remarked, “Ninety-nine percent of genuine European farmers receive less than €100,000 in subsidies. Those funds were never intended for fossil fuel dynasties; they were meant to support real European farmers.”
The subsidized farms are merely one aspect of Al Dahra and ADQ’s agricultural initiatives in Europe, which also encompass…
