Possible alternatives to the direct payments calculation mechanism to achieve the European Union external convergence promises

Abstract Despite being the EU’s largest budgetary instrument, direct payments remain allocated through political compromise rather than clear methodological criteria, sustaining long-standing disparities between EU-15, EU-10 member states, undermining solidarity. This paper proposes 18 models based on transparent rules to address this ambivalent situation. The developed 18 direct payments allocation models are based on objective indicators such as land prices, farm efficiency, and purchasing power. The proposed alternatives operationalise different fairness principles—equality, equity, cohesion. The evaluation of alternatives is conducted employing a multicriteria framework which balances distributive outcomes with political feasibility. The results show that hybrid approaches, combining flat-rate components with purchasing power or productivity adjustments, provide the most balanced outcomes between convergence, political sensitivity.