(million EUR)
Financial programming | 378 262.9 |
NextGenerationEU | 8 070.5 |
Decommitments made available again (*) | N/A |
Contributions from other countries and entities | 0.0 |
Total budget 2021-2027 | 386 333.4 |
(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
Europe needs a smart, resilient, sustainable and competitive agricultural sector in order to ensure the production of safe, high-quality, affordable, nutritious and diverse food for its citizens and a strong socio-economic fabric in rural areas.
EU agriculture has to develop on a new international context with new international commitments on Climate Change and on Sustainable Development Goals, also characterised by a shift from multilateral to bilateral and regional trade agreements in which sustainable production methods play a more prominent role.
Internally, the European Green Deal reinforced the need to support the transition towards a knowledge-based fully sustainable agricultural sector. In that context, EU's agriculture and rural areas face challenges related to:
- the economic health of the farm sector, both at the level of income and competitiveness, in the current uncertain global context;
- the need to preserve natural resources in a context of climate change (requiring action both regarding mitigation and adaptation); and
- the need to preserve the economic and social fabric for the EU's rural areas.
The CAP had to be reformed to meet these challenges and be even more coherent with other EU policies to maximise its contribution to the Sustainable Development Objectives. The new CAP, agreed in 2021, will enhance its European added value by reflecting a higher level of environmental and climate ambition and addressing citizens' expectations for their health, the environment and the climate.
The global and cross-border nature of the challenges faced by the EU agricultural sector and rural areas requires a strong common policy at EU level. EU Budget support from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) aims to further improve the sustainable development of farming, food and rural areas and shall contribute to achieving the following EU objectives, defined for the 2023-2027 period:
- to foster a smart, competitive, resilient and diversified agricultural sector ensuring long-term food security;
- to support and strengthen environmental protection, including biodiversity, and climate action and to contribute to achieving the environmental- and climate-related objectives of the EU, including its commitments under the Paris Agreement;
- to strengthen the socio-economic fabric of rural areas.
Ten key objectives are the basis upon which the future common agricultural policy (CAP) strategic plans are built and which are the cornerstone of a more results-oriented policy. The objectives are:
- 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;
- to enhance market orientation and increase farm competitiveness both in the short and long term, including greater focus on research, technology and digitalisation;
- to improve the farmers’ position in the value chain;
- 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;
- to foster sustainable development and efficient management of natural resources such as water, soil and air, including by reducing chemical dependency;
- to contribute to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, enhance ecosystem services and preserve habitats and landscapes;
- to attract and sustain young farmers and new farmers and facilitate sustainable business development in rural areas;
- to promote employment, growth, gender equality, including the participation of women in farming, social inclusion and local development in rural areas, including the circular bio-economy and sustainable forestry;
- to improve the response of EU agriculture to societal demands on food and health, including high-quality, safe and nutritious food produced in a sustainable way, to reduce food waste, as well as to improve animal welfare and to combat antimicrobial resistance;
- to modernise agriculture and rural areas by fostering and sharing of knowledge, innovation and digitalisation in agriculture and rural areas and by encouraging their uptake by farmers, through improved access to research, innovation, knowledge exchange and training.
As from 2023, the implementation of bulk of the measures under the Common Agricultural Policy takes place in the form of 28 different CAP strategic plans. These plans are programming instruments where Member States present their proposed interventions to achieve the EU specific objectives.
The interventions include actions funded by both the EAGF and the EAFRD. CAP strategic plans were assessed and formally adopted by the European Commission and Member States will periodically report on the progress made in the implementation using a system of common indicators.
The EAGF under the CAP strategic plans funds the following types of interventions:
- direct Payments: a) Decoupled direct payments: the basic income support for sustainability; the complementary redistributive income support for sustainability; the complementary income support for young farmers; the schemes for the climate and the environment; b) Coupled direct payments;
- sectoral interventions: a) fruit and vegetables sector; b) apiculture products sector; c) wine sector; d) hops sector; e) olive oil and table olives sector; f) other sectors (from 2024).
The EAFRD funds the following types of interventions:
(a) environmental, climate and other management commitments; (b) natural or other area-specific constraints; (c) Area-specific disadvantages resulting from certain mandatory requirements; (d) investments; (e) installation of young farmers and rural business start-up; f) risk management tools; g) cooperation; h) knowledge exchange and information.
The implementation of the new CAP strategic plans begins as of 2023. All plans were adopted in time for the start in 2023.
A number of schemes financed from EAGF continue to be implemented outside the CAP strategic plans, i.e.: private and public storage measures, exceptional measures; EU school scheme; information and promotion measures and support for the outermost regions and smaller Aegean islands.
For financing the private and public storage and exceptional measures, the new EU agricultural reserve is established for the first time at the beginning of 2023.
The implementation of the programme is in shared management. DG Agriculture and Rural Development is the lead for the Commission. It is aiming to simplify CAP governance with more subsidiarity to rebalance responsibilities between the EU and its Member States, and to shift the policy focus from compliance to performance.
The CAP is a European policy with a single European budget. The objectives of the CAP are laid out in Article 39 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
The CAP is financed through two funds:
- the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and
- the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
The EAGF preserves a level playing field in the single market for agricultural products and enables a stronger common position in trade negotiations. Moreover, it responds more effectively and efficiently to cross-border challenges such as underpinning food security, mitigating and adapting to climate change, caring for natural resources such as soil and water, restoring biodiversity and strengthening economic and social cohesion. The EAGF supports balanced territorial development and encourages smart, sustainable and inclusive growth: analysis shows that less or no EAGF support would result in a higher concentration of agricultural production, meaning that small farmers and farmers in less profitable areas would go out of business and larger farms would become even bigger and more intensive. This would have a negative effect on jobs in rural areas (especially where job creation is difficult) and on the environment and the climate due to intensification.
The EAFRD finances rural development programmes that make a vital contribution to the economic, social and environmental performance of the EU in rural areas. Rural development programmes take into account national and regional specificities and ensure a consistent, coherent and results-oriented approach to a number of cross-border issues. The performance and results of the EAFRD are enhanced by the European Network for Rural Development, which allows for the exchange of experiences and best practices between national and regional authorities.
Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 lays down rules on general and specific objectives to be pursued with the support granted under the common agricultural policy (CAP), through the CAP strategic plans; types of intervention and common requirements for Member States to pursue those objectives as well as the related financial arrangements; CAP strategic plans, which are to be drawn up by Member States and which set targets, specify conditions for interventions and allocate financial resources, according to the specific objectives and identified needs; coordination and governance as well as monitoring, reporting and evaluation.
Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 lays down rules on the financing of expenditure under the CAP; the management and control systems to be put in place by the Member States; clearance and conformity procedures.
Regulation (EU) 1308/2013 establishes a common organisation of the markets for agricultural products, as listed in Annex I to the Treaties (with the exception of the fishery and aquaculture products).
EAGF | Direct payments EUR 189.1 billion |
|
Sectoral support EUR 8.9 billion |
| |
EAFRD | Rural development EUR 66 billion |
|
The application of the previous CAP regulations continued through the end of 2022 within the budgetary framework of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework. The current CAP implemented from 2023 has been designed to address the challenges identified for the 2021-2027 period. The central element of the CAP is the new performance-based delivery model, focusing on results rather than compliance and 28 national CAP strategic plans (one for each Member State except Belgium, where there is one for Wallonia and one for Flanders).
Programme website:
Impact assessment:
The impact assessment of the EAGF and EAFRD was carried out in April 2018. Please see https://europa.eu/!Rd79m
Relevant regulation:
- See section ‘structural set up of the programme’ above.
Evaluations:
Completed evaluations and synthesis studies of Member States evaluations:
Synthesis ex-ante evaluations on rural development programmes 2014-2020
Summary Report 'Synthesis of the evaluation components of the 2017 enhanced AIRs'
Payments for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment ('greening')
Forestry measures under Rural Development
Summary Report 'Synthesis of the evaluation components of the 2019 enhanced AIRs'
CAP measures applicable to the wine sector
EU agricultural promotion policy – internal and third country markets
Impact of the CAP measures towards the general objective ‘viable food production’
Impact of the CAP on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions
Mandatory indication of country of origin labelling for certain meats
Impact of the CAP on sustainable management natural resources (biodiversity, soil & water)
Impact of the CAP on territorial development of rural areas: socioeconomic aspects
The CAP´s impact on knowledge exchange and advisory activities
Information policy on the common agricultural policy
Geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed protected in the EU
Ongoing evaluations:
Evaluation report on the impact of LEADER towards the general CAP objective ‘balanced territorial development’ (SWD planned for Q4 2023)
Evaluation report on the EU school fruit, vegetables and milk scheme (SWD planned for Q2 2023)
Evaluation of the Common Agriculture Policy measures in the outermost regions (POSEI) and the smaller Aegean islands (SWD planned for Q2 2024)
Other
Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and first results on the performance of the Common Agricultural Policy (COM(2018) 790 final).
Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the common monitoring and evaluation framework including an assessment of the performance of the common agricultural policy 2014-2020 (COM(2021) 815 final).
The complete list of completed studies can be found in the Interinstitutional Database of EU Studies or on the Europa webpage on the Common monitoring and evaluation framework.
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.
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.
As regards the EAGF:
- Sector-specific support programmes, implementing the market expenditure, are operating at various points in their respective life cycle. For example, the wine national support programme follows a 5-year cycle and also programmes for support to producer organisations in the fruit and vegetable sector.
- As to the direct payments, Commission services have assisted Member States in preparing and implementing the direct payments; implementation of payments has thus gradually reached a high level and is consistently above 99% of the voted appropriations, supporting stability in farmers income.
As regards the EAFRD:
- The implementation of the 2014-2022 rural development programmes continues at a satisfactory pace. A number of initiatives were launched to improve efficiency and effectiveness of EAFRD expenditure and to ensure a smooth transition with the CAP strategic plans. Examples of these are the amendments to the basic act as a response to the COVID-19 crisis, to address the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reductions in the administrative burden (Simplified Cost Options (SCOs)), the sharing of best practices and experience between stakeholders (European Network for Rural Development (ENRD)) and ex ante assessments of the rural development measures by Member States. However, measures in the form of investments take a longer time to be fully implemented compared to annual measures, which explains to a large extent the persistent gap vis-à-vis the targets.
In the light of the Russian invasion to Ukraine, the Commission has adopted the following exceptional measures in 2022 to support EU farmers.
- The crisis reserve was used for financing an exceptional support measure to directly assist farmers most affected by the higher input costs and the closure of export markets. An amount of EUR 492 million was used and Member States could exceptionally complement this EU support by up to 200% with national funds. EUR 709 million national funding was provided, bringing the total support for this measure to EUR 1.2 billion. The Commission also allowed Member States to pay increased levels of CAP direct payments in advance to address the cash-flow difficulties that farmers are facing.
- exceptional and temporary derogation to allow the production of any crops on fallow land, while maintaining the full level of greening payment for farmers.
- In view of the particularly difficult situation of the pig meat sector, the Commission has opened a private storage aid scheme to stabilise markets.
Member States can also take measures at national level: a Temporary Crisis Framework for State Aid has been put in place to allow Member States to better support companies affected by the crisis, including farmers and fertiliser producers; also, Member States are using specific derogations and flexibilities to existing import requirements on animal feed.
In 2022, the co-legislators adopted a new exceptional measure (Regulation (EU) 2022/1033) which allowed for the provision of exceptional temporary support to farmers and SMEs engaged in processing, marketing or the development of agricultural products and particularly affected by the impact of the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine. Such support would be paid out in a lump sum of not exceeding EUR 15 000 per farmer and EUR 100 000 per small and medium-sized enterprise for activities contributing to food security or addressing market imbalances, and would have to support beneficiaries engaging in one or more of the following activities pursuing those goals to pursuing elements of (i) a circular economy, (ii) nutrient management, (iii) the efficient use of resources, or (iv) environmental and climate friendly production methods. This support complements similar exceptional support via measures against market disturbance support measures to farmers. Total exceptional temporary support cannot exceed 5% of total EAFRD contributions to rural development programmes for 2021-2022. Member States have until 31 March 2023 to adapt their rural development plans.
On 9 November 2022 the Commission published the Communication ‘Ensuring availability and affordability of fertilisers’ [COM(2022)590], with possible actions to address the challenges in the fertiliser supply chain in order to maintain EU agricultural food production.
The Commission considered the consequences of the war in Ukraine when assessing the new strategic plans: There is a clear need to strengthening resilience, reducing energy dependence and preserving and expanding the sustainable production capacity. These are all core elements of sustainable agriculture and also of the farm-to-fork approach. That’s why the Commission supports activities such as boosting sustainable biogas production and use, improving energy efficiency, extending the use of precision agriculture, fostering protein crop production or spreading through the transfer of knowledge the widest possible application of best practices.
Financial instruments
Financial instruments (FI) are a key tool for providing access to finance for the farming sector and the rural economy. Through their leverage effect and revolving factor, they can also complement the rural development budget. By the end of 2022, in total 33 EAFRD managing authorities in 13 Member States have programmed EUR 666 million EAFRD resources (EUR 860 million total public) for financial instruments in their 2014-2022 rural development programmes. In total, EUR 344 million are already declared as expenditure by Member State. At the same time, in 2022, and also due to the extensive work under fi-compass and the gained experience so far by the managing authorities, 12 Member States planned new financial instruments in their new CAP strategic plans (EUR 615 million of EAFRD financing and a total public budget of EUR 977 million). Under the technical assistance programme fi-compass, in total, 39 cases of targeted coaching on financial instruments for EAFRD managing authorities were carried out in the 2016-2022 period. In 2022 alone, 2 EU-wide conferences were undertaken (with 413 attending participants), 19 case-study brochures and videos were made, alongside an extensive communication and social media activities. Moreover, 3 surveys and 1 study regarding the needs for setting-up and/or implementation of financial instruments in the EU, including access to finance for agriculture and agro-food sectors, were initiated with an objective to be completed in 2023.
Justification of the level of appropriations requested in DB 2024
Justification of changes to the financial programming and/or to the performance information for market measures.
08 02 01 – Agricultural reserve | (appropriations +0 million) |
Appropriations in 2023 budget: | 450.0 |
Appropriations requested in 2024 DB: | 450.0 |
This Article finances private and public storage measures and exceptional measures as of 15 October 2022.
08 02 02 – Types of interventions in certain sectors under the CAP strategic plans | (appropriations + EUR 275 million) |
Appropriations in 2023 budget: | 960.2 |
Appropriations requested in 2024 DB: | 1 235.2 |
This Article finances interventions for the fruit & vegetables, apiculture, wine, hops, olive oil & table olives and ‘other sectors’ under the CAP strategic plans. The appropriations increase as a result of higher amounts planned by Member States in their CAP strategic plans from 2024.
08 02 03 – Market-related expenditure outside the CAP strategic plans | (appropriations – EUR 265.6 million) |
Appropriations in 2023 budget: | 1 744.9 |
Appropriations requested in 2024 DB: | 1 479.3 |
This budget article finances market related expenditure outside the CAP strategic plans. This budget article finances support for fruit & vegetables, apiculture, wine and olive oil sectors, the Outermost regions (POSEI), smaller Aegean islands, agricultural information and promotion actions as well as the school scheme.
In 2024, for the fruit & vegetables, apiculture, wine, and olive oil & table olives sectors expenditure can be made both under and outside the CAP Strategic Plan.
The 2024 budget appropriations for agricultural markets amounts to EUR 3 165.0 million, representing an increase of EUR 9.9 million.
As usual, the Commission will update its estimates in an Amending Letter to the Draft Budget 2024, which will then take into account latest market developments and perspectives.
Justification of changes to the financial programming and/or to the performance information for direct payments
08 02 – Direct payments | (appropriations - EUR xxx million) |
08 02 05 – Direct payments outside the CAP strategic plans | |
Needs in 2023 budget | 37 758 |
Appropriations in 2023 budget | 37 127 |
Estimated assigned revenue available in 2023 budget: | 632 |
These amounts are all direct payment regimes under CAP regulation 1307/2013 including the direct payments for POSEI/SAI. | |
08 02 04 – Direct payments types of interventions under the CAP strategic plans |
|
Needs in 2024 DB: | 37 116 |
Appropriations requested in the 2024 DB: | 36 611 |
Estimated assigned revenue available in 2024 DB: | 505,5 |
These amounts also include the Direct payment share of item 08 02 99 01 ‘Completion of previous EAGF measures under shared management’, which covers i.a. late payments of previous years of direct payments.
08 02 05 – Direct payments outside the CAP strategic plans |
|
Needs in 2024 DB | 444 |
Appropriations requested in the 2024 DB | 444 |
For direct payments, the budget for 2024 is the first budget to cover expenditure planned in the CAP strategic plans that were introduced with Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of 2 December 2021. Budget and expenditure for the direct payment interventions of the plans will refer to article 08 02 04, whereas direct payments regarding POSEI/SAI (not covered by the plans) will remain under article 08 02 05.
The maximum amount of direct payment which a Member State may pay per year is limited by a regulatory ceiling; for calendar year 2023/financial year 2024 and onwards these ceilings are set in Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 (not including POSEI/SAI), initially totalling 38 608 million for calendar year 2023.
With submission of their CAP strategic plans Member States have communicated their decisions to transfer amounts between direct payments and rural development, and from direct payments to other sectors. These transfers overall result in a net decrease of EUR 1 064 million of the direct payments ceiling for calendar year 2023, and the adjusted ceiling is therefore EUR 37 544 million.
Compared to the 2023 budget, total direct payment needs of the 2024 budget decrease by 198 million to an amount of 37 560 million (1). Requested appropriations decrease by EUR 72 million to EUR 37 055 million, taking into account EUR 505.5 million of assigned revenue to be available to finance item 08 02 04 01 ‘Basic income support for sustainability’.
Direct payments will be paid for different intervention types as specified in the CAP strategic plans of each Member State, and each intervention type is matched by an item under article 08 02 04. Member States will in their plans set an indicative financial allocation per intervention type, based on the individual Member State’s policy decisions and its forecasts for the expected uptake.
The intervention types (Basic income support for sustainability, Schemes for the climate and the environment etc.) cannot be directly compared to the direct payment schemes of the previous period, and the historical execution of the previous budget lines can therefore not be used directly for forecasting the expenditure in financial year 2024.
The budgetary needs per line have been established taking into account the total indicative financial allocation per intervention type and the expectations for the uptake and execution of each type. For the overall direct payments needs a continuation of previous years' high execution rate is expected, especially having in mind the increased flexibility of implementation that Member States have under the new policy.
08 02 06 – Policy strategy, coordination and audit | |
Appropriations in 2023 budget: | 405.5 |
Appropriations requested in 2024 DB: | 378 |
This budget article finances financial corrections in favour of Member States following Clearance of accounts and Conformity clearance Decisions, the Settlement of disputes and the EAGF Operational Technical Assistance.
Compared to the 2023 budget, the appropriations requested in the 2024 budget have decreased by EUR 27.5 million to an amount of EUR 378 million in commitment appropriations. The reduction is the net effect of a lower amount envisaged for financial corrections in favour of Member States (decreased by EUR 82.5 million) and an increase in needs for actions under the Operational Technical Assistance (increased by EUR 55 million) compared to Budget 2023.
EAFRD
The EAFRD funding in budget year 2024 is implemented under the CAP strategic plans (Regulation (EU) 2021/2112). However, payments are also envisaged for the pre-2023 commitments that are governed by the EAFRD 2014-2020 (Regulation 1305/2013) and CAP transitional rules (Regulation (EU) 2020/2220). The latter extended the EAFRD rural development programmes by 2 years, whereby the extended programmes followed the legal framework of Regulation 1305/2013. Furthermore, the transitional regulation also set out the legal basis to introduce the part of the European Union Recovery Instrument earmarked to be implemented via the EAFRD into the rural development programmes in 2021 and 2022. These additional financial resources are implemented through rural development programme measures that are directed at addressing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. EURI payments will continue until budget year 2026.
The total EAFRD budget request for 2024 amounts to EUR 13.2 billion in commitment appropriations and EUR 12.7 billion in payment appropriations to finance EAFRD support under the CAP strategic plans and the rural development programmes. A minor part of these amounts also covers the technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission (EUR 29.8 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 21.9 million in payment appropriations).
As from 2023, only payment appropriations in the form of external assigned revenues stemming from the European Union Recovery Instrument are be requested in line with the n+3 rule applicable to those funds. For 2024 an amount of EUR 1.8 billion is envisaged.
(1) Including amounts on item 08 02 04 Direct payments types of interventions under the CAP strategic plans, item 08 02 05 Direct payments outside the CAP strategic plans and item 08 02 99 01 ‘Completion of previous EAGF measures under shared management’, which namely covers late payments of previous years of direct payments.
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
Baseline | Progress | Target | Results | Assessment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
To increase agricultural factor income | 2013: 102 (2015: 100) | 100% (*) | Overall increase in the long term | Index above the baseline each year from 2014 to 2022. 2022 index value: 144 | On track |
To increase agricultural productivity | 2010: 100 | 100% (*) | Overall increase in the long term | Index above the baseline each year from 2014 to 2022. 2022 index value: 108.9 | On track |
To increase the rural employment rate | 2013: 63% | 100% (**) | Overall increase in the long term | Index above the baseline each year from 2014 to 2020. 2021 index value: 69% | On track |
Support for investment in restructuring | 0% | 66% (**) | 3.4% in 2025 | Support reached 2.23% of agricultural holdings out of 3.4% | On track |
Business development plan for young farmers | 0% | 74.5% (**) | 2.0% in 2025 | Support reached 1.49% of agricultural holdings out of 2.0% | On track |
Contributing to biodiversity and landscapes – agricultural land | 0% | 95% (**) | 19.2% in 2025 | 18.2% of agricultural land reached compared to target of 19.2% | On track |
Improving water management – agricultural land | 0% | 89% (**) | 16.8% in 2025 | 15.0% of agricultural land reached out of 16.8% | On track |
Preventing soil erosion and improving soil management – agricultural land | 0% | 93% (**) | 15.8% in 2025 | 14.7% of agricultural land reached compared to target of 15.8% | On track |
New or improved services/infrastructure | 98% (**) | 18.8% in 2025 | 20.0% of rural population reached out of 20.4% | On track |
(*) % of target achieved by the end of 2022.
(**) % of target achieved by the end of 2021.
Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
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. |