Overwegingen bij COM(2025)560 - Conditions for the implementation of the Union support to the Common Agriculture Policy for the period from 2028 to 2034

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dossier COM(2025)560 - Conditions for the implementation of the Union support to the Common Agriculture Policy for the period from 2028 to 2034.
document COM(2025)560 EN
datum 16 juli 2025
 
(1) The Commission Communication of 19 February 2025 entitled ‘A Vision for Agriculture and Food’ 6 announces that the common agricultural policy (the ‘CAP’) post-2027 enhances responsibility and accountability for Member States on how they meet the CAP objectives, supporting and stabilising farmers’ incomes and attracting a future generation of farmers, and guaranteeing food security. The new CAP is to be a simpler and more targeted Union common policy, with more flexibility for farmers and a shift from requirements to incentives, for farmers.

(2) The multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2028 to 2034 legislative package includes Regulation (EU) .../... of the European Parliament and of the Council [NRP] establishing the National and Regional Partnership Fund (the ‘Fund’) for the period 2028 to 2034, grouping the nationally pre-allocated funds under the Fund, including the European Agriculture Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) established under Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council 7 and Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 of the European Parliament and of the Council 8 . The Fund should be implemented through National and Regional Partnership Plans (the ‘NRP Plans’) and the EU Facility, which aim at increasing flexibility and cater for crises and interventions that require Union level steering or coordination. This Union support for the CAP will be provided under the Fund, in accordance with the rules governing that Fund set out in Regulation (EU) …/… [NRP].

(3) With regards to agriculture, the general objective of the Fund referred to in Article 3, point (c), of Regulation (EU) .../... [NRP] recalls the objectives established in Article 39 TFEU. The CAP specific objectives directly contribute to sustaining Union’s quality of life and are to be implemented by the Member States through their NRP Plans.

(4) In order to ensure that the Union adequately addresses the most pressing challenges for the agricultural sector, it is appropriate to provide for a steering mechanism reflecting the orientations of the Vision for Agriculture and Food for a targeted policy. To advance towards a competitive, resilient and sustainable agricultural sector, in line with the outcome of the stakeholders’ consultations, the CAP national recommendations should provide a sufficient level of policy steering at Union level, to guide Member States in the design of their NRP Plans as regards agriculture, defining the relevant interventions on the basis of their specific challenges and needs.

(5) To ensure a level playing field and common framework for support for the Union agricultural sector, Member States should define the elements of the framework taking into account the local specificities and needs with the CAP objectives in mind, while the Union should provide the common framework for a policy that supports those who need it most.

(6) The CAP has showed a positive impact on generational renewal in agriculture, but there remain obstacles, in particular as regards the provision of basic infrastructure and services in rural areas, access to land and social safety net for young as well as for retiring farmers. To address the specific needs of young farmers and new entrants, each Member State should be required to set in the NRP Plan a strategy for generational renewal that should be based on the assessment of the specific national context, in line with the Commission's Vision for Agriculture and Food, which prioritises the long-term sustainability and attractiveness of the EU's farming and agri-food sector. The Member States should also develop a comprehensive 'starter pack' for young farmers, designed to facilitate the entry and establishment of young farmers in the sector, including a comprehensive package of interventions targeting young farmers.

(7) In line with the objective of achieving a better balance between incentives and requirements, Member States should target support through their NRP Plans towards CAP priorities, which are essential for the long-term sustainability of agriculture. The CAP post-2027 should accelerate the transition towards more sustainable production methods, contributing to climate-neutrality objective by 2050. The new CAP should offer better rewards for delivering more ambitious ecosystem services which go beyond the results achieved through mandatory requirements. The new CAP should strike a new balance between a farm stewardship with a set of mandatory requirements, and agri-environmental and climate actions which support commitments beneficial for the environment, climate and animal welfare and a transition towards more resilient production systems.

(8) The farm stewardship should be established to guarantee compliance of the CAP support with the 'do no significant harm' principle laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council 9 . The farm stewardship should comprise minimum environmental and social conditionality requirements, as well as protective practices designed by Member States to deliver on key objectives such as protection of soils and river courses from pollution. Member States should have the flexibility to adapt those protective practices to their specific geographical and climatic context and production systems including by establishing exemptions. To promote socially sustainable agriculture, certain CAP payments require compliance with standards on working and employment conditions, occupational safety and health. The European Charter and diverse national frameworks and labour market models should be respected, no additional obligations should be imposed on social partners or Member States regarding enforcement or controls and double corrections avoided.

(9) Income support for farmers should continue to be the central policy instrument to guarantee a fair income to farmers and sustainable farming and food production. It should contribute to fostering a competitive and resilient agricultural sector pursuing the benefits of high-quality production and resource-efficiency, while ensuring generational renewal and thus long-term food security. Income support allocations should be ringfenced to be used for Income support for farmers only, to provide stability and predictability for the Union agricultural sector. In order to ensure high impact and efficiency, the new CAP should entail a streamlined and consistent toolbox of Income support types of intervention enabling Member States to deliver on the CAP objectives.

(10) Given the need to target the support to those most in need, Member States should pay the area-based degressive income support only to those persons whose principal activity is agriculture, while ensuring that small and pluri-active farmers, who are engaged in at least a minimum level of agricultural activity, are not excluded.

(11) Recognising the need for more farm resilience and risk management, support should be granted to improve the ability of farmers to withstand increasing risks and crises, such as those related to the climate change or market instability, to enable farmers to participate in risk management tools, including support for insurance premiums and contributions to mutual funds in all Member States. A proactive approach to risk management reinforcing the sector's resilience should be promoted by fixing appropriate maximum support rates, with incentives for farmers who implement risk preventive measures.

(12) The CAP objectives should also be pursued through support for investments implemented by farmers and forest holders. Such investments may concern, inter alia, infrastructures related to the development, modernisation or adaptation to climate change of agriculture and forestry, agro-forestry practices, energy and water, installation of digital technologies in agriculture, precision farming, diversification of income sources in other activities such as agro-tourism and bioeconomy. It should also be possible to support investments in the restoration of agricultural or forestry production potential following natural disasters, adverse climatic events or catastrophic events, including fires, storms, floods, pests and diseases.

(13) Recognising the necessity for farmers to balance the professional duties with personal and family responsibilities, it should be possible to provide support for farm relief services facilitating replacement of farmers during leave for sickness, childbearing, holidays or in case of training participation. It should be possible to support establishment of these services as well as wages for temporary workers replacing the farmer.

(14) To foster social, economic, environmental and digital transition in rural areas Member States should ensure that LEADER is supported. It should be possible to grant support under the NRP Plans to quality schemes and promotion activities, short supply chain and local market development.

(15) In line with the need to boost innovation and more sustainable practices, the European Innovation Partnership for agricultural productivity and sustainability (the ‘EIP-AGRI’) should remain a key policy tool, to support interactive innovation, enhancing the exchange of knowledge between actors with a view to spreading solutions ready for practice 10 . Synergies between the CAP and the Union Research Framework Programme (FP10), established by Regulation (EU) …/… of the European Parliament and of the Council, should encourage agriculture to make the best use of research and innovation results, in particular those stemming from projects funded by FP10 and the EIP-AGRI, leading to innovations in the farming and bioeconomy sector and rural areas.

(16) Enhancing interoperability between public agricultural information systems at national level can bring significant benefits, including reduced data collection burden, improved efficiency, and enhanced policy monitoring. In pursuing this aim, Member States should adopt the 'collect once, use multiple times' principle to reduce reporting burden. Designating a single authority to coordinate interoperability efforts and investing in unique farm IDs, the EU ID Wallet referred to in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council 11 , and data-sharing infrastructure can reduce administrative burden, streamline reporting obligations, and empower farmers within the data value chain, ultimately supporting the goals of the CAP.

(17) In order to supplement the non-essential elements of this Regulation, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission. In order to ensure legal certainty, power should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation with measures ensuring that interoperability and seamless data exchange between information systems used for the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the CAP are implemented by the Member States.

(18) To ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred to the Commission to set out the Roadmap to achieve and maintain interoperability between information systems.

(19) The Commission should be empowered to adopt immediately applicable implementing acts where, in duly justified cases relating to solving specific problems while ensuring the continuity of income support in the case of extraordinary circumstances, imperative grounds of urgency so require. Moreover, the Commission should be empowered to adopt immediately applicable implementing acts, where in duly justified circumstances, extraordinary circumstances affect the granting of support and jeopardise the effective implementation of the interventions listed in this Regulation.

(20) In order to ensure smooth implementation of the measure envisaged and as a matter of urgency, this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.