The family that runs the United Arab Emirates - with an estimated wealth of more than 320 billion dollars, the second wealthiest in the world - has, over the last six years, collected more than 71 million euros from European farming subsidies. The money landed for land holdings in Romania, Italy and Spain.

A cross-border investigation by DeSmog, in collaboration with The Guardian, Spain's El Diario and Romania's G4Media, brought it to light. The Al Nahyan family - the dynasty of Mohamed bin Zayed, the president of the UAE - controls EU farms through multiple subsidiaries. Most of the subsidies went via Agricost - a Romanian farming company that owns 57,000 hectares, the largest single farm in the EU. In 2024 alone, Agricost received 10.5 million euros in direct payments.

The EU's Common Agricultural Policy is worth around 54 billion euros a year. That's a third of the Union's total budget. And inside that pile, the money flowed toward one of the wealthiest families in the world, who are neither European nor farmers by profession. Over the last 15 years the Emirati dynasty has become a key global player in agriculture, controlling around 960,000 hectares across Africa, South America and Europe.

The European Commission is now proposing a cap of 100,000 euros per farmer per year. A logical proposal - but 15 years late. In the meantime, money from European taxpayers, meant to help small farms, has been flowing into the accounts of the Abu Dhabi court.

For Balkan readers: Romania and Bulgaria are EU members, their money is in the same fund the UAE profited from. And while small farms in the Balkans struggle with red tape and the difficulty of accessing those funds, an Arab dynasty pulled it out without trouble. The EU does not have a problem with „corruption on the periphery" - it has a systemic flaw that allows a global political player, through a third party, to collect 71 million euros from European tax.

The question: if this is just Al Nahyan, who are the others? How many other wealthy global players are pulling subsidies out of the EU through phantom Romanian subsidiaries? The investigation has started. We will see the results - when the EU least wants to show them.