The European Commission approved the CAP Strategic Plans of Germany, Greece and Lithuania. The new Common Agricultural Policy(CAP), set to start on 1 January 2023, is designed to shape the transition to a sustainable, resilient and modern European agricultural sector. Under the reformed policy, funding will be more fairly distributed among farms, with an emphasis on small- and medium-sized farms, as well as young farmers. Moreover, farmers will be supported to take up innovation, from precision farming to agro-ecological production methods. By supporting concrete actions in these and other areas, the new CAP can be the cornerstone for food security and farming communities in the European Union.
The new CAP incorporates a more efficient and effective way of working. EU countries will implement national CAP Strategic Plans, combining funding for income support, rural development and sectorial programmes. In designing its CAP Strategic Plan, each Member State chose from a wide range of interventions at EU level, tailoring and targeting them to address their specific needs and local conditions. The Commission has been assessing whether each Plan is aimed towards the ten key CAP objectives, which touch upon shared environmental, social and economic challenges. The Plans need to be in line with EU legislation and should also contribute to the EU's climate and environmental goals, as set out in the Commission's Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies.
The CAP will benefit from €270 billion EU funding for the 2023-27 period.The three Plans approved today represent a total EU budget of €47.8 billion, with €30.5 billion for Germany, €13.4 billion for Greece and €3.9 billion for Lithuania. Out of the total EU budget of these three countries, more than €14 billion will be dedicated to environmental and climate objectives and eco-schemes and €1.6 billion for young farmers.
In its Plan, Germany focuses on protecting climate and environment while ensuring the competitiveness and resilience of farms and rural areas. Organic farming is specifically supported with nearly €2.4 billion and about 30% of the agricultural land will respectively benefit from practices reducing emissions or maintaining/enhancing carbon storage, improving soil quality or enhancing water quality. 280 000 farmers and rural stakeholders will benefit from training, advice and other knowledge transfer activities to increase their environmental and climate-related performance. The uptake of agricultural insurance schemes in light of drought and other adverse weather events will be encouraged with specific funding. Finally, the CAP plan is expected to help create more than 20 000 new jobs as well as support 40 000 rural businesses.
Greece’s Plan will improve the viability of small- and medium-sized holdings, which represent the backbone of Greek agriculture. This will be done with the help of targeted income support and an additional redistributive payment. To address the challenge of generational renewal, more than 65 000 young farmers (below the age of 40) will receive specific support to set-up their business activity. They will also receive additional income support to ensure adequate income and facilitate access to credit and land. Moreover, CAP support is expected to create more than 70 000 new jobs in rural areas. The Greek Plan also aims to reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture and manage natural resources more efficiently. Around €1.4 billion of CAP support will be aimed at doubling the total agricultural land under organic farming by the end of the programming period.
Lithuania puts a strong emphasis on fair incomes for farmers in its Plan. Around €3 billion is allocated for income support with a redistributive payment for small- and medium-sized farms, as well as coupled support for several sectors. Lithuania is one of the rare countries where the share of young farmers is increasing. Lithuania’s Plan invests funds to ensure that the sector remains attractive. More than 4 600 young farmers will be supported to set up and will then receive additional aid. Sustainable farming practices will also be rewarded. For example, the area under organic farming will increase at least by half by 2028 and will cover 13% of the agricultural land in the country.
More information on each Plan as well as the breakdown of their CAP budget is available in the “at a glance” documents.