Rules and financial support for CAP Strategic Plans

SUMMARY OF:

Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 – rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP strategic plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?

It sets out a new European Union (EU) common agricultural policy (CAP) for 2023–2027, which aims to be fairer, greener and more performance-based. It seeks to strengthen the position of farmers in the supply chain and to boost competitiveness in the agri-food sector. The new CAP aims to:

• enhance the contribution of agriculture to EU environmental and climate goals;
• provide more targeted support to smaller farms; and
• allow greater flexibility for EU Member States in adapting measures to local conditions.

40% of the CAP budget must be climate-relevant and demonstrate support for the general commitment to dedicate 10% of the EU budget to biodiversity objectives by the end of the EU’s 2021–2027 multiannual financial framework.

KEY POINTS

The regulation applies to EU aid financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) for submissions made by Member States and approved by the European Commission, during the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2027.

• The EAGF finances income support schemes for farmers and market support measures (measures that support and stabilise agricultural markets).
• The EAFRD is the CAP’s contribution to EU support for intervention in rural development. It finances measures:
  • to improve agricultural competitiveness;
  • to promote sustainable resource management and climate action; and
  • to achieve the balanced territorial development of rural areas.
• The financial allocations under the 2021–2027 multiannual financial framework are:
  • €291.1 billion for the EAGF; and
  • €95.5 billion for the EAFRD.

A fairer and greener CAP

Support from the EAGF and the EAFRD should contribute to the following specific objectives:

• supporting viable farm income and agriculture sector resilience across the EU to enhance long-term food security and agricultural diversity and ensure the economic sustainability of agriculture;
• increasing farm competitiveness in both the short and the long term, including greater focus on research, technology and digitalisation;
• improving farmers’ position in the value chain;
• contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation, including by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing carbon capture and storage, and promoting sustainable energy;
• fostering sustainable development and managing natural resources such as water, soil and air efficiently;
• contributing to the halting and reversing of biodiversity loss, enhancing ecosystem services and preserving habitats and landscapes;
• attracting and sustaining a new generation of farmers and facilitating sustainable rural business development;
• promoting employment, growth, gender equality (including women’s participation in farming), social inclusion and local development in rural areas, including the circular bio-economy and sustainable forestry;
• improving EU agriculture’s response to society’s food and health demands, including by providing sustainable high-quality, safe and nutritious food, reducing food waste, improving animal welfare and combating antimicrobial resistance;
• modernising agriculture and rural areas through wider knowledge sharing, innovation and digitalisation with improved access for farmers to research and training;
• reducing the administrative burden and simplifying CAP implementation.

CAP strategic plans

To be able to provide farmers and other beneficiaries with support from the EAGF and the EAFRD, Member States have to develop a CAP strategic plan at the national level, combining a range of targeted interventions which address the Member State’s specific needs and will be able to contribute to EU-level objectives, including the European Green Deal.

Once the plans are submitted, the Commission has to approve them ahead of their implementation from 1 January 2023.

The Commission assesses whether the plans contribute to, and are consistent with, EU legislation and commitments in relation to climate and the environment, including the farm-to-fork strategy and biodiversity strategy. Member States must update their plans when climate and environmental legislation is modified.

In these plans, Member States must, among other things, do the following.

• Assess the income needs of farmers and draw up a redistribution strategy addressing those needs. They may mobilise a range of rules and interventions such as a dedicated support scheme for small farmers, redistributive income support or degressivity/capping.
• Assess how they can increase the participation of women in farming, address the challenges to this and include measures as appropriate.
• Include a system of conditionality under which farmers and beneficiaries receiving direct payments and benefitting from certain rural development measures are penalised if they do not comply with the statutory management requirements or with the standards for good agricultural and environmental condition of land (GAEC) set out in the strategic plans covering:
  • climate and environment, including water, soil and ecosystem biodiversity;
  • public and plant health;
  • animal welfare.
• Indicate that by 1 January 2025, farmers and other recipients of direct payments will be subject to an administrative penalty if they fail to provide fair employment conditions under EU legislation.

The Commission supports Member States through the process of preparing their strategic plan so that:

• they take full advantage of the new CAP and its instruments to support their farmers in the transition towards increased sustainability in food systems;
• each plan includes an intervention strategy explaining how each Member State will use CAP instruments to achieve the CAP objectives, in keeping with the Green Deal ambitions.

Types of intervention under the EAGF direct payments

There are detailed rules relating to the following.

• Decoupled direct payments
  • Basic income support for sustainability in the form of an annual payment per eligible hectare declared by an active farmer. If a Member State opts to provide support for small farmers, it can do so by means of a lump sum or a given amount per hectare. Annual payments to small farmers should not exceed €1,250.
  • Complementary redistributive income support for sustainability – at least 10% of direct payments are to be made to the redistributive income support tool, to better address the income needs of smaller and medium-sized farms. Member States may make exceptions if they can demonstrate that their needs are lower or that they are mobilising other interventions to address such income needs.
  • Complementary income support for young farmers, granted for a maximum duration of five years. Support can be in the form either of an annual decoupled payment per eligible hectare or of a lump-sum payment per young farmer. Member States will have to distribute at least 3% of their direct payments budget to young farmers, in the form of income or investment support or start-up aid.
  • Eco-schemes for farmers who commit to observing agricultural practices beneficial for the climate, the environment and animal welfare, and to combating antimicrobial resistance; at least 25% of the budget for direct payments is allocated to eco-schemes.
• Coupled direct payments
  • Coupled income support in the form of an annual payment, per hectare or per animal, in certain sectors or types of farming of socioeconomic or environmental importance.
  • A crop-specific payment for cotton in Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal and Spain.

Intervention in certain market sectors

There are detailed rules on types of intervention in the following sectors:

• fruit and vegetables;
• apiculture products;
• wine;
• hops;
• olive oil and table olives;
• other sectors set out in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and sectors listed in Annex VI of this regulation, Regulation (EU) 2021/2115.

For each sector, the regulation sets objectives and lists the types of eligible interventions. Depending on the sector, support may take any of the following forms:

• reimbursement of eligible costs actually incurred by a beneficiary;
• unit costs;
• lump sums;
• flat-rate financing.

Types of intervention for rural development under the EAFRD

There are detailed rules for payments or support for:

• environmental, climate-related and other management commitments;
• natural or other area-specific constraints;
• area-specific disadvantages resulting from certain mandatory requirements;
• investments, including investments in irrigation;
• establishing young and new farmers and rural business start-ups;
• risk management tools;
• cooperation (including European innovation partnerships and Leader);
• knowledge exchange and dissemination of information.

At least 35% of the total EAFRD contribution to the CAP strategic plan must be reserved for interventions supporting specific environmental and climate-related objectives, including animal welfare.

To promote local development, a minimum allocation of at least 5% of the EAFRD must be made to Leader.

Performance, monitoring and evaluation

The regulation introduces a common set of indicators as part of a new performance, monitoring and evaluation framework. The indicators are monitored through annual performance reports and a biannual review of the performance of CAP strategic plans to assess the Member States’ progress in reaching their targets and the CAP’s objectives.

Financial reserve

The regulation includes a financial reserve for crisis intervention, amounting to at least €450 million per year.

Supplementary legislation

• A delegated act, Regulation (EU) 2022/126, supplements Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 with additional requirements for certain types of intervention specified by Member States in their CAP strategic plans. It also includes rules on the ratio for the GAEC standard 1 (on the establishment of buffer strips along water courses).
• Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/648 amends Annex XI as regards the amount of EU support for types of intervention for rural development for the financial year 2023.
• An implementing act, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1317, provides for exceptions as regards the application of the GAEC standards 7 (on crop rotation in arable land, except for crops growing under water) and 8 (on the minimum share of agricultural area devoted to non-productive areas or features) for the claim year 2023.

Repeal of earlier legislation

The regulation repeals Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 on rural development and (EU) No 1307/2013 on direct payments to farmers.

FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

The regulation has applied since 7 December 2021. The CAP strategic plans are applicable as of 1 January 2023.

BACKGROUND

For further information, see:

• The new common agricultural policy: 2023–27 (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 (OJ L 435, 6.12.2021, pp. 1–186).

Successive amendments to Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 have been incorporated in the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1475 of 6 September 2022 laying down detailed rules for implementation of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the evaluation of the CAP Strategic Plans and the provision of information for monitoring and evaluation (OJ L 232, 7.9.2022, pp. 8–36).

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1317 of 27 July 2022 providing for derogations from Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the application of the standards for good agricultural and environmental conditions of land (GAEC standards) 7 and 8 for claim year 2023 (OJ L 199, 28.7.2022, pp. 1–4).

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/129 of 21 December 2021 laying down rules for types of intervention concerning oilseeds, cotton and by-products of wine making under Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council and for the information, publicity and visibility requirements relating to Union support and the CAP Strategic Plans (OJ L 20, 31.1.2022, pp. 197–205).

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/126 of 7 December 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council with additional requirements for certain types of intervention specified by Member States in their CAP Strategic Plans for the period 2023 to 2027 under that Regulation as well as rules on the ratio for the good agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC) standard 1 (OJ L 20, 31.1.2022, pp. 52–94).

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2289 of 21 December 2021 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the presentation of the content of the CAP Strategic Plans and on the electronic system for the secure exchange of information (OJ L 458, 22.12.2021, pp. 463–485).

See consolidated version.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2290 of 21 December 2021 laying down rules on the methods for the calculation of the common output and result indicators set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 (OJ L 458, 22.12.2021, pp. 486–493).

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – A Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system (COM(2020) 381 final, 20.5.2020).

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 Bringing nature back into our lives (COM(2020) 380 final, 20.5.2020).

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – The European Green Deal (COM(2019) 640 final,11.12.2019).

Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, pp. 671–854).

See consolidated version.

last update 01.01.2023