European Commission's report:
- confirms the important role of CAP Strategic Plans for maintaining farmers' income and food security, while supporting EU agriculture's transition to a sustainable farming model in the 2023-2027 period,
- analyses the intended impact of the Strategic Plans for delivering on the goals of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023-2027, particularly those linked to environment, climate and societal expectations such as animal welfare,
- confirms that the CAP Strategic Plans aim to deliver the most ambitious CAP ever from an environmental and climate perspective
- points out the need to reinforce prevention and risk management tools and strengthen approaches to climate adaptation.
For the 2023-2027 period, the CAP is supported by €307 billion of which 264 billion from the EU budget, and an additional €43 billion from national funds.
A fairer distribution of farm income
CAP Strategic Plans show a significant joint effort to support farm income, ensure a fairer distribution to smaller farms and reduce income disparities in the most vulnerable sectors and disadvantaged areas. There is also an increased joint effort to modernise farms and strengthen the sector's competitiveness.
More than 10% of EU direct payments, representing €4 billion annually, will be reallocated through redistributive payments benefitting small and medium-sized farms.
Plans will support 377 000 young farmers in setting up in agricultural activity.
A greener EU agriculture sector
To receive full CAP payments, farmers must respect an enhanced set of requirements and standards for the environment, climate, health, animal welfare, and decent working conditions.
The Plans allocate 32% of the total CAP budget to voluntary actions advancing the environmental, climate and animal welfare objectives. The flexibility granted to Member States in designing these tools allowed them to target specific needs in their national or regional contexts and exploit their complementarities.
Examples:
- promotion of organic fertilisers as an alternative to synthetic ones (Portugal, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece and Slovenia),
- support of both investment and maintenance aid for agroforestry (Germany),
- scheme for winter cover to protect soil (Finland),
- extra funding for sustainable grazing and mowing practices on pasture to reduce soil degradation and improve biodiversity (Spain),
- significant support for better living conditions of livestock (Poland).
Source:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_5986
