The UAE’s ruling royal family is benefiting from tens of millions in EU subsidies to grow crops destined for the Gulf, it can be revealed.
A new cross-border investigation, shared with The Guardian, found that subsidiaries controlled by the Al Nahyans collected over €71 million (£61 million) in just six years for farmland it controls in Romania, Italy and Spain.
The Al Nahyan family is the second ...
The strongest version of this narrative is that the EU’s agricultural subsidy system is being exploited by foreign investors, including the UAE’s ruling elite, who benefit from tens of millions in taxpayer-funded payments while contributing little to local food security or small-scale farming. The investigation provides concrete evidence of subsidy flows to companies linked to the Al Nahyan family, highlighting systemic issues in the CAP’s distribution mechanisms. The narrative gains credibility...
