Evaluation of Common Agricultural Policy delivery on its objectives

Key points

Based on the stakeholders’ meetings and the data collected during the country missions, the EESC recommends:

• that direct payments and overall CAP funding must be increased and index-linked to counter inflation, rising costs and market volatility; 
• maintaining a two-pillar CAP, with Pillar 1 covering support for farm incomes through direct payments and market supports and Pillar 2 covering rural development and support for rural areas;
• strengthening farmers’ position in the food supply chain and enhancing price transparency;
• strengthening producer organisations, increasing enforcement of laws on unfair trading practices and ensuring strong equivalence of standards in trade policy;
• improving and increasing generational renewal, providing support for women and part-time farmers and providing long-term policy stability;
• introducing or expanding targeted financial and structural incentives, specifically for women farmers and women-led projects, like the Irish and Spanish ‘gender-targeted measures’;
• setting more ambitious environmental goals with proportionate incentives, and introducing eco-schemes that are more flexible, tailored to each region and accompanied by suitable compensation and targeted advisory services;
• expanding social conditionality to high-risk sectors, such as horticulture, and to migrant/seasonal workers, while carefully assessing and addressing concerns raised by farmers, employer groups, and national administrations, regarding the mechanism’s effectiveness and its potential to increase administrative burden without delivering clear social benefits to the sector;
• simplifying the administrative burden, particularly at farm level, while preserving accountability, and reducing the bureaucratic burden by adhering to the ‘once only’ principle;
• increasing support for LEADER and local development measures. Ring-fencing funding, reducing administrative complexity and integrating more farm-centred and agri-food projects to foster inclusive rural economies;
• improving civil society engagement and establishing permanent joint responsibility frameworks, more effective consultation periods and transparent feedback mechanisms;
• ensuring that CAP support does not go to company head offices outside the EU;
• proposing specific support measures for farmers to ensure good living conditions for seasonal workers.