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Common Agricultural Policy - Performance

Programme in a nutshell

Concrete examples of achievements

5.8 million
farmers
benefited from direct payments in the 2021 calendar year.
366 000
farmers
benefited from the ‘young farmers’ scheme in the 2021 calendar year.
20 million
beehives
were supported in 2021.
18.2%
of agricultural land
was covered by management contracts contributing to biodiversity in 2021.
4.1 million
hectares
were under land-management contracts targeting the reduction of greenhouse gases or ammonia emissions in 2021.
2.2 million
hectares
of agricultural and forest land were covered by management contracts contributing to carbon sequestration or conservation in 2021.
1.2 million
hectares
of irrigated land had switched to more efficient irrigation systems in 2021.
2.1 million
beneficiaries
received vocational training in agriculture in 2021, the 2025 target being 3.9 million.

Budget for 2021-2027

Rationale and design of the programme

Budget

Budget programming (million EUR):

  2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 Total
Financial programming 55 712.9 53 096.6 53 626.9 53 757.9 53 890.9 54 021.9 54 155.9 378 262.9
NextGenerationEU 2 365.7 5 688.5 16.4         8 070.5
Decommitments made available again (*)               N/A
Contributions from other countries and entities 0.0 0.0 p.m p.m p.m p.m p.m 0.0
Total 58 078.6 58 785.0 53 643.3 53 757.9 53 890.9 54 021.9 54 155.9 386 333.5

(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.

 

more or less

Financial programming:
- EUR 269.3 million (- 0%)
compared to the legal basis*

* Top-ups pursuant to Art. 5 of the multiannual financial framework regulation are excluded from financial programming in this comparison.

 

The financial programming is set in regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027.

Regulation (EU) 2020/2220 ensured the continuity in granting income support to farmers and in supporting rural development measures in 2021 and 2022.

Transfers between funds are possible according to Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, Article 103.

 

Budget performance – implementation

Multiannual cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):

  Implementation Budget Implementation rate
Commitments 115 676.5 386 333.5 29.9%
Payments 109 603.8   28.4%

 

Annual voted budget implementation (million EUR) (1):

  Commitments Payments
  Voted budget implementation Initial voted budget Voted budget implementation Initial voted budget
2021 55 018.2 55 712.9 53 937.4 55 368.7
2022 52 604.1 53 096.6 53 680.5 55 368.7

(1) Voted appropriations (C1) only.

Contribution to horizontal priorities

Green budgeting

Contribution to green budgeting priorities (million EUR):

  Implementation Estimates Total contribution % of the 2021–2027 budget
  2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027    
Climate mainstreaming 17 236.9 17 574.1 13 296.2 24 461.3 24 496.9 24 526.8 24 528.2 146 120.4 38%
Biodiversity mainstreaming 9 943.2 9 236.2 9 020.9 8 786.0 9 485.0 9 485.0 9 485.0 65 441.3 17%
Clean air 98.0 78.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 107.0 0%

 

Climate

EU greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture have fallen by more than 20% since 1990 and have stagnated since 2010, while agricultural production has continued to grow. Although this shows progress in terms of climate footprint per unit of output, there is a need to reduce total emissions further to achieve the EU’s ambitious climate targets for 2030. Based on the EU climate tracking methodology, the CAP contribution to climate action is estimated at 26% for the 2014-2020 period (EUR 103 198 million), which is above the 25% commitments: EUR 45 504 million for EAGF (15%) and EUR 57 694 million for EAFRD (58%). Because of its nature, the CAP has better addressed the reduction of emissions for managed agricultural soils, thanks to increased carbon sequestration and protection of carbon stocks, than for livestock. The good agricultural and environmental conditions and greening measures play a major role in protecting permanent grasslands and the EU soil carbon stock. Good agricultural and environmental conditions include obligations to keep a minimum soil cover, maintenance of soil organic matter through appropriate practices, including banning the burning of arable stubbles, and appropriate land management. These measures also significantly contribute to improving the adaptation of soils to changing climatic conditions. Greening practices cover crop diversification, maintenance of permanent grasslands and the establishment of ecological focus areas on 5% of arable land. A number of measures have significant effects on adaptation and mitigation.

According to the CAP Strategic Plan Regulation, over the 2021-2027 period (from 2023 onwards), actions under the CAP are expected to contribute 40% of the overall financial envelope of the CAP, at the EU level, to climate-related objectives. Using information provided by Member States, the Commission will account for the CAP contribution using the EU climate coefficients. This climate-relevant expenditure serves as input to monitor progress on the goal for climate mainstreaming across all EU programmes, with a target of 25% of EU expenditure contributing to climate objectives.

The CAP evaluation includes a modelling estimation of a reduction in emissions by 4.6% compared to a baseline without the CAP (in a scenario with medium emission reduction coefficients and based on the 2016 uptake of Pillar II measures – the reduction being 8.8% in the highest emission-reduction scenario). Pillar I (EAGF) contributes most to this reduction (19.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq), corresponding to 3.5%), via greening and more specifically via the protection of the environmentally sensitive permanent grasslands and the ecological focus areas. All initiatives also improve the adaptation of these areas to climate change. As regards Pillar II (EAFRD), the measures for which impact was quantifiable – investments in physical assets (measure 4), investments in forest area development (measure 8), agri-environment-climate commitments (measure 10.1), organic farming (measure 11) and Natura 2000 payments (measure 12.1) – have helped to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 6.4 million tonnes of CO2eq/year. This corresponds to 1.1% of total emissions from agriculture based on the uptake of the 2016 measures. The support to areas facing natural constraints prevents land abandonment and loss of grassland and thus protects carbon stocks in soil, which have a positive effect on the adaptation to climate change in these areas. The post-2020 CAP has an increased ambition, based on an enhanced conditionality, whereby payments are linked to a stronger set of mandatory requirements, and the new eco-schemes, which are fully contributing to the climate objectives of the CAP.

Biodiversity

Protecting biodiversity and strengthening the resilience of ecosystems are indispensable for achieving our sustainable growth objectives. As provided in the Commission Communication ‘A budget for Europe 2020’, financing the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and its objective to halt and reverse the decline of biodiversity in the EU requires the mainstreaming of biodiversity throughout the EU budget, both within the EU via the main domestic funding instruments and through external action funding. Based on the EU tracking methodology, the CAP contribution to biodiversity was estimated at EUR 66 billion for the period 2014-2020.

Thanks to its enhanced green architecture, the CAP for 2023-2027 has a range of instruments that can contribute to supporting biodiversity. This is in line with the CAP Specific Objective to contribute to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, enhancing ecosystem services and preserving habitats and landscapes. The enhanced green architecture strongly reinforces conditionality (previously cross-compliance and greening) that links area- and animal-based support to the respect of a number of statutory management requirements and nine standards for Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs). Conditionality is also the baseline for other incentive measures supported by the CAP. Two GAECs have as main objective biodiversity protection: GAEC 8 concerns the protection of non-productive and biodiversity relevant areas and features while GAEC 9 sets a ban on converting and ploughing environmentally-sensitive permanent grasslands in Natura 2000 sites. The wide area coverage and the compulsory nature of conditionality amplify its positive effects.

In addition, a new policy instrument developed under the CAP 2023-2027 – eco-schemes – will contribute to biodiversity. Eco-schemes will represent at least 25% of the direct payments, and Member States have proposed many eco-schemes targeting biodiversity issues.

Moreover, rural development measures such as agri-environment-climate commitments, organic farming and Natura 2000 payments will make an important contribution to biodiversity objectives. They have significant effects in encouraging farmers to reach ambitious biodiversity goals through the support for biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices such as maintaining semi-natural habitats and landscape features, and creating new habitats beneficial for biodiversity. The potential of other relevant rural development measures should not be underestimated. For instance, non-productive investments that help establish and/or restore landscape features such as hedgerows, stonewalls and wetlands can also play an important role. So do measures for knowledge-building, innovation and co-operation. Training and provision of farm advice also play a significant role in promoting biodiversity-friendly farming practices .

The new methodology developed to track the biodiversity contribution of the CAP 2023-2027 takes into account the new CAP architecture and its increased green ambition, which is implemented through the national CAP Strategic Plans. As from the draft budget 2024, the contribution of the CAP to biodiversity is estimated by the Commission through the application of EU coefficients (100%, 40% and 0%) and weighting factors (100%, 70% and 50%) that aim to reflect the differentiated contribution of each type of interventions towards the biodiversity objective. This includes direct and indirect contributions, including whether the support is subject to conditionality.

For eco-schemes and rural development interventions (other than the payments for natural or other area-specific constraints), the methodology is based on the links between each intervention and the three environmental and climate specific objectives referred to in points d), e) and f) of Article 6(1) of the CAP Strategic Plans Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, i.e.:

“(d) to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, including by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing carbon sequestration, as well as to promote sustainable energy; (hereafter SO4)

(e) to foster sustainable development and efficient management of natural resources such as water, soil and air, including by reducing chemical dependency; (hereafter SO5)

(f) to contribute to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, enhance ecosystem services and preserve habitats and landscapes” (hereafter SO6). (1)

Member States were asked to make such links, for each intervention, in their CAP Strategic Plans. Based on these links, several categories of spending are distinguished:

Interventions for which Member States have flagged the “biodiversity” objective (SO6) (2)

  • Interventions linked only to SO6 have as only objective to contribute to biodiversity. Therefore, an EU coefficient of 100% is applied to 100% of the financial allocations (3).
  • Interventions linked to both SO6 and SO4 and/or SO5 also aim to contribute to climate- and other environment-related objectives. The fact that biodiversity has not been flagged as the only objective is reflected by a weighting factor: as a rule of thumb, the EU coefficient of 100% is applied to only 70% of the financial allocations.
  • Interventions linked to SO6 and other SOs (other than SO4 and SO5) are considered to contribute only partly to biodiversity. Therefore, as a rule of thumb, the EU coefficient of 100% is applied to 50% of the financial allocations.

Interventions for which Member States have not flagged the “biodiversity” objective (SO6)

  • Interventions linked to SO4 and/or SO5 (but not SO6) have not been flagged by Member States as contributing to biodiversity, but they can nevertheless provide a useful contribution to it by addressing drivers of biodiversity loss such as [explain]. They are, therefore, considered to make an indirect contribution to biodiversity. This is reflected by applying an EU coefficient of 40% to 100% of the financial allocations
  • For interventions linked to SO4 and/or SO5 and other SOs, an EU coefficient of 40% is applied to 50% of the financial allocations.

Direct payments other than eco-schemes (included under the previous part of the methodology) and payments for natural or other area-specific constraints (ANC) are considered to contribute to biodiversity objectives because they are subject to conditionality. Moreover, ANC support limits land abandonment, which can indirectly contribute to preserving farmland biodiversity. This is reflected by applying an EU coefficient of 40% to 10% of the financial allocations. The EU decided to allow derogations from certain part of the GAECs obligations in 2023 (4)  as part of the measures taken to address the unprecedented uncertainties related food security, triggered by the war of aggression in Ukraine. To take account of the reduced scope of the GAECs in 2023, an EU coefficient of 2% is applied to these financial allocations in the draft budget 2024.

For 2021-2023, the contribution to biodiversity was calculated as follows:

2021-2022

EAGF

  • marker of 40% applied to the payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment (budget item 08 02 05 05),
  • marker of 40% applied to 10% of the remaining direct payments to reflect the biodiversity contribution of cross-compliance (i.e. 4% of budget article 08 02 05) without payments for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment and without payments for the Small farmers scheme which were not subject to cross-compliance.

EAFRD

  • marker of 100% applied to the annual commitments in Priority Area 4 “Restoring, preserving and enhancing ecosystems related to agriculture and forestry” with exception of the amounts for the areas facing natural constraints,
  • marker of 40% of the annual commitments in focus area 5E “Fostering carbon sequestration in agriculture and forestry”.

2023

EAGF: same method as for 2014-2022, as the amounts for direct payments in the draft budget 2023 were based on the envelopes for calendar year 2022 of Regulation EU 2013/1307.

EAFRD: in the absence of an agreed method at the time, the biodiversity contribution was established by applying the share for biodiversity from 2021 and 2022 to the annual commitments for the draft budget 2023, i.e. extrapolating the contribution based on the shares from previous years.

 

(1)    All 10 specific objectives can be found in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 (see above under the section “Objectives”)

(2)    The link to SO1 “to support viable farm income and resilience of the agricultural sector across the EU in order to enhance long-term food security and agricultural diversity as well as to ensure the economic sustainability of agricultural production in the EU” is not taken into account for eco-schemes as it reflects that eco-schemes are a type of direct payments.

(3)   As direct payments are annual, the tracking is based on the annual planning of financial allocations within the CAP Strategic Plans for 2024, while the following years are based on average values for the programming period. Rural development commitments are multi-annual and therefore the calculation is based on the average for the programming period.

(4)   Area-based payments for claim year 2023 are, as a general rule, financed by the 2024 budget.

 

Gender

Contribution to gender equality (million EUR) (*):

Gender score 2021 2022 Total
0* 55 018.2 52 604.1 107 622.3

(*) Based on the applied gender contribution methodology, the following scores are attributed at the most granular level of intervention possible:
- 2: interventions the principal objective of which is to improve gender equality;
- 1: interventions that have gender equality as an important and deliberate objective but not as the main reason for the intervention;
- 0: non-targeted interventions (interventions that are expected to have no significant bearing on gender equality);

- 0*: score to be assigned to interventions with a likely but not yet clear positive impact on gender equality.

 

Rural development policy contributes to gender equality, as the gender perspective is considered during the preparation and implementation of the rural development programmes. Under priority 6 of the rural development policy, the CAP supports social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development in rural areas. Under this priority, the EAFRD supports, inter alia, the development of basic services in rural areas and local initiatives; it finances the launch of non-agricultural and agricultural activities and promotes cooperation between local actors. This can help to address the specific challenges that women sometimes face in rural areas and in the agricultural sector, such as the lack of quality basic services in some rural areas (e.g. childcare services, broadband and transport). Moreover, all rural development measures have the potential to contribute to gender equality to various extents, for example by providing support to improve skills and facilitate business development. Besides that, gender equality is specifically sought in the rural development policy through:

  • the possibility to submit thematic subprogrammes for women in rural areas (although no Member States have done so);
  • the possibility to target rural development support to women through the application of selection criteria; and
  • the obligation to respect ex ante conditionality on gender equality.

It is currently not possible to establish accurate data on the gender breakdown of the beneficiaries of the CAP funding, as a number of the beneficiaries have a legal rather than natural identity. Moreover, at present, the data is not disaggregated by sex, especially in the case of EAGF and direct payments.

For the 2023-2027 CAP, Regulation 2021/2115 requires Member States to establish a partnership that includes relevant bodies, including those responsible for gender equality and non-discrimination. DG Agriculture and Rural Development insisted on this during the assessment and approval of the CAP strategic plans. Furthermore, under the Leader programme, DG Agriculture and Rural Development insisted on the inclusion of women in the management boards of local action groups. Other Member States have included specific provisions for women in the interventions for generational renewal, while others have committed to addressing gender under the Leader programme via the local development strategies.

 

Digital

Contribution to digital transition (million EUR):

  2021 2022 Total % of the total 2021-2027 implementation
Digital contribution 66.8 44.2 107.0 0%

 

Figures for 2021-2022: declared expenditure for focus area 6C on enhancing the accessibility, use and quality of information and communication technologies in rural areas (United Kingdom excluded). Data for the fourth quarter of 2022 is not available yet.

Broadband access in rural areas continues to improve, with an increase of 49.5 percentage points in 8 years, but is still lagging behind urban areas. In 2021, 67.5% of rural households had next-generation access compared to 90.1% of total EU households. There is a clear improvement compared the previous year’s results, and the gap between urban and rural areas is decreasing. Yet, the connectivity gap remains a challenge for rural areas. The level of broadband access depends significantly on general developments in telecoms markets (and financing from other policy tools – including the European Regional Development Fund). The CAP plays its part by offering explicit support for setting up, expanding and improving broadband infrastructure, and for the provision of broadband internet access (i.e. improved connections to infrastructure), and access to e-government. Based on the latest updates of the rural development programmes, the CAP will have helped nearly 13 million people living in rural areas to benefit from improved access to information and communication technology services and infrastructure over the course of the current programming period. In 2021, DG Agriculture and Rural Development continued to work closely with DG Regional and Urban Policy, DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology and DG Competition to further develop the network of broadband competence offices in Member States and their regions, including a renewed Brussels-based support facility, contracted and managed by DG Agriculture and Rural Development. By the end of 2022, the broadband competence office network was comprised of 27 National and 92 regional broadband competence offices in the EU, plus six broadband competence offices in the western Balkan countries and one broadband competence office in Norway. In 2022, DG Agriculture and Rural Development continued its application of the rural proofing checklist in cases where Member States requested programming changes to broadband funding. 2022 was a year of very intensive training activities, including the annual meeting of the broadband competence offices and the European Broadband Awards, both in physical format, after over 2 years of full virtual training.

 

Budget performance – outcomes

The CAP as a whole has helped to support and stabilise farm income. Between 2014 and 2022, the average EU factor income per worker increased by 44% in real terms, mainly due to major gains in labour productivity and high agricultural output prices in 2022. DG Agriculture and Rural Development ensures the implementation of a consistent system of direct payments to farmers. The delivery modes related to direct support are in place at all levels (EU and national), which ensures that income support is delivered to farmers in a consistent, efficient and regular way and in a timely manner. DG Agriculture and Rural Development develops the necessary tools to ensure a fairer and more effective and efficient targeting of direct payments towards the CAP objectives, in close cooperation with Member States' authorities.

Overall, since 2014, EU price volatility has been lower than price volatility on the international markets for all products. This overall picture hides variations between different regions in the EU. For example, direct payments and rural development support represent close to 50% of farmers’ income in mountain areas, and CAP funding helps to make farms viable in the most remote rural areas. Nevertheless, the high level of total income support in mountain areas does not fully compensate for the income gap with non-mountain areas.

The backdrop of the global economic disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine had negative implications for the supply of key agricultural commodities and inputs. The European Commission put forward a number of measures to safeguard global food security, and supporting EU farmers and consumers most affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine (see ‘budget implementation’).

The CAP continued to make a significant contribution to food security by achieving productivity gains and resilience in trade markets. It also provided support to improve supply-chain organisation. The EU accounted for 20% of global agri-food exports in 2020, despite a challenging international context.

As to the objective of promoting food-chain organisation, Member States reported several achievements, such as better integration in the food supply chain and the introduction of quality schemes, increased quality of food production, promotion of local markets and short supply, increased participation of farms in risk prevention and management schemes and greater prevention of risks from flooding.

Pressures on the EU agricultural resources have increased due to growing food and industrial demand, which is driven by changes in the demographics and disposable income. On the supply side, there is growing competition for the same production factors (land, labour, capital) and growing pressure on the use of natural capital (with impact on the environment and climate). Increasing agricultural productivity in a sustainable way is essential to meet the challenges of higher demand in a resource-constrained and climate-uncertain world. EU agricultural productivity is already high, partly due to increased labour productivity. However, stagnation in recent years is associated with challenges that both the agricultural sector and EU civil society have to face, such as rising food prices, climate change and loss of biodiversity. A number of drivers and policy tools are available to trigger productivity gains in EU agriculture, such as research and innovation programmes, new technologies, rural development and infrastructure, efficient advisory systems and continuous training for farm managers.

The CAP aims to facilitate job creation and maintenance by supporting investments in rural businesses and infrastructure and skills acquisition through innovation support, training and advice-giving, while paying specific attention to the particular nature of agricultural activity, which results from the social structure of agriculture and from structural and natural disparities between the various agricultural regions. There are also certain challenges linked to a development gap in rural areas, which are often less well-served by essential infrastructure and services (e.g. limited access to public transport and broadband, remote health care services) and need to be prioritised also through the use of other EU policies. Rural development supports all entities operating in rural areas to foster sustainable and inclusive growth in the EU and to address the rural/urban divide. Different measures under rural development programmes contribute to this objective, including investments (providing basic services), cooperation and the exchange of knowledge and information, promoting innovation and access to training and advice.

The CAP supports young farmers via dedicated ‘young farmers’ schemes under both the EAGF and rural development. Indirectly, the CAP facilitated generational renewal by supporting the economic sustainability of jobs in rural areas. While it mainly supports farming, evidence shows the significant spill-over effects on the wider rural economy, because it boosts local spending and provides employment. CAP support can be key to improving infrastructure, services and connectivity, especially in remote areas, and can also help slow the rate of depopulation and land abandonment in the EU. However, CAP support is insufficient on its own to remove the main entry barriers to farming, namely limited access to land and capital and the (perceived) disadvantages of the working and living conditions of rural areas.

In the objective of promoting social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development in rural areas, several achievements related to small enterprises and jobs have been reported, such as diversification, the creation and development of small enterprises and job creation and maintenance in rural areas. There has also been progress in terms of the development of and access to services and local infrastructure in rural areas, participation in local development strategies, employment opportunities created via local development strategies, broadband expansion and better use of information and communications technology in rural areas. The indicator value for services/infrastructures is relatively low, partly due to the fact that many of these projects are large and may require several years to be implemented.

The EAGF provided an extensive level of ‘baseline protection’ for the environment via mandatory cross-compliance and greening obligations, which together comprised more than 80% of the EU’s agricultural land. Support was decoupled from production and linked to compliance with standard environmental and climate practices and was therefore not an incentive to increase production intensity. Since CAP payments are conditional to respecting a basic set of environment-related rules, the CAP helps enforce the implementation of existing legislation that is relevant for the environment.

The ‘greening’ scheme brought in by the 2013 CAP reform was successful in preventing further environmental damage, but the incentive to change farming practices (in particular the obligation to diversify crops or to maintain ecological focus areas) was not relevant for all farmers. And although the greening scheme had the potential to promote environmental and climate practices, the choices made by Member States and farmers did not fully unlock this potential.

The CAP also provided for more targeted but voluntary commitments under rural development, such as agri-environment climate measures and organic farming. In fact, the largest share of the EAFRD fund is allocated to the objective of restoring, preserving and enhancing ecosystems. Here, reported achievements include an increased area of agricultural and forest land covered by management contracts to enhance biodiversity and landscapes; restoring, preserving and enhancing biodiversity; the improvement of water quality and management; the prevention of soil erosion and improvement of soil management; and the preservation of genetic species in grasslands and livestock. Given their tailored and targeted design, these measures were most effective in encouraging the sustainable management of natural resources. But implementation choices greatly influenced the overall impact of these measures and their uptake was limited, notably due to complex eligibility conditions and premiums that are too low to stimulate change, particularly in certain productive areas.

For the objective of promoting resource efficiency and supporting the shift towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy, uptake was generally lower than planned. This was due to the nature of the interventions, as investment projects can take some time to materialise. Implementation delays have been the subject of continuous dialogue with the Member States.

Overall, the 2014-2022 CAP provided a wide range of tools for the sustainable management of natural resources and climate action, but Member States did not seize all opportunities to improve the environmental sustainability of farming and to step up climate action. The policy could have been more effective with a more strategic approach, more targeted measures and funding, and had beneficiaries been more ambitious in the implementation of these measures rather than minimising changes. These weaknesses are addressed in the CAP for the 2023-2027 period, with national CAP strategic plans that are crucial to guaranteeing the CAP contribution to address climate change, the protection of natural resources and biodiversity. Before approving them, the Commission assessed whether the CAP strategic plans contribute to, and are consistent with, EU legislation and commitments in relation to climate and the environment, including those laid out in the farm-to-fork and biodiversity strategies.

Sustainable development goals

Contribution to the sustainable development goals

SDGs the programme contributes to Example
SDG1
End poverty in all its forms everywhere
The CAP is reducing inequalities between territories (indicator: level of rural poverty split by territory). The CAP is also reducing inequalities between groups. (Indicator: Poverty index in rural areas.)
SDG2
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

The CAP is supporting productivity and efficiency gains and thereby contributing to SDG 2.3 (By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment).

The EU school scheme supports the distribution of fruit, vegetables and milk to schools across the European Union as part of a wider programme of education about European agriculture and the benefits of healthy eating. The consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables and of milk in the EU does not meet the international or national nutritional recommendations while that of processed food that is often high in added sugar, salt, fat or additives is on the rise. Unhealthy diets, together with low physical activity, result in overweight and obesity. This is why the EU takes action to help children follow a healthy diet and lead healthy lifestyles.
SDG4
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
The CAP is enhancing Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems and strengthening links with research. It is also strengthening farm advisory services within the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems.
SDG6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
EU Member States have outlined measures in the CAP strategic plans to reduce nutrient losses and pesticide use by 50% by 2030, thereby protecting water resources.
SDG7
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
CAP strategic plans are outlining various measures to increase the production of renewable energy, e.g. biogas.
SDG8
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
The CAP fosters income, value added and employment in rural areas.
SDG9
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

The CAP offers explicit support for setting up, expanding and improving broadband infrastructure, as well as for the provision of broadband internet access (i.e. improved connections to infrastructure), and access to e government.

According to targets aggregated from the 2014-2020 rural development programmes (covering the current 2014-2022 extended programming period), the CAP will help nearly 13 million people living in rural areas to benefit from improved access to information and communication technology services and infrastructure.
SDG12
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Through demand driven production models and support to processing and preservation technology the CAP helps to reduce food loss and waste.
SDG13
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
The CAP supports carbon storage (carbon farming measures, peatland restoration, etc.) and contributes to prevention and reduction of GHG emissions. GHG emissions from agricultural production decreased from 483 million tons in 1990 to 382 million tons in 2020.
SDG15
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Recent production and market trends show the importance that organics has gained over the last decade. Organic farming responds to a specific consumer demand for sustainable food products, promoting more sustainable farming practices and contributing to the protection of the environment and improved animal welfare.

For the 2014-2020 period, the rural development support planned for organic farming amounts to EUR 11.2 billion.

The share of the EU’s utilised agricultural area with organic farming has increased from 5.6% in 2012 to 9.1% in 2020. corresponding to an increase from 10.05 to 14.7 million hectares.

Archived versions from previous years

Common Agricultural Policy PPS