Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE.Image: IMAGO / Anadolu Agency
May 7, 2026, 8:31 a.mMay 7, 2026, 10:31 am
The ruling royal family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) benefits from high EU subsidies for the cultivation of crops destined for the Gulf region. This was the result of a study by DeSmog, which was carried out by the British Guardian is present.
The Al Nahyan family therefore controls agricultural land in Romania, Italy and Spain. In six years, the royal family received more than 71 million euros (around 65 million francs) as a share of payments to agricultural businesses.
Subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) account for a third of the entire EU budget. Annually they amount to around 54 billion euros (around 49 billion francs), which are paid out to farmers and rural areas across the Union.
A portion of this ends up in the hands of foreign investors – including those controlled by autocratic states. How high the proportion is was not yet known.
More about research
DeSmog, together with the Spanish newspaper “El Diario” and the Romanian news portal G4Media, examined thousands of recipients of EU agricultural subsidies from 2019 to 2024. The media was able to trace 110 subsidy payments to a network of companies and subsidiaries controlled by the Al Nahyan family from the UAE and the sovereign wealth fund ADQ.
The research appears at a time when the future of agricultural subsidies is being discussed in the EU. In July 2025, the European Commission presented a proposal for the next CAP funding period from 2028 to 2034. This stipulates that area-related direct payments be limited to a maximum of 100,000 euros per company and year.
The Al Nahyans are the most powerful monarchy in the United Arab Emirates. At the top is Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE. With an estimated fortune of more than 320 billion US dollars (around 249 billion Swiss francs), the Al Nahyan family is the second richest in the world. According to the Guardian, the UAE now controls around 960,000 hectares of arable land worldwide. (hkl)