The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was established in 1962 and forms a partnership between European farmers and society. It has the following objectives:
- Supporting farmers, improving agricultural productivity, and ensuring a stable supply of affordable food;
- Guaranteeing a fair income for farmers in the European Union;
- Protecting the climate and promoting the sustainable management of natural resources;
- Preserving rural areas and landscapes throughout the EU;
- Maintaining viable rural economies by stimulating employment in agriculture, the agri-food sector, and related industries.
This policy is common to all Member States and is managed and financed at the European level.
To address the lower income levels in the agricultural sector, the dependence on weather and climate, and the time gap between consumer demand and farmers’ supply, the CAP includes:
- Income support in the form of direct payments, which ensure stable incomes, reward farmers for environmentally friendly farming practices, and compensate them for public services that are not usually paid for by markets, such as landscape management.
- Market measures to respond to difficult market situations, such as a sudden drop in demand due to a major health issue or falling prices caused by temporary oversupply.
- Rural development measures, through national and regional programmes that address the needs and challenges of rural areas.
To respond to evolving economic conditions and citizens’ needs on the one hand, and to ensure that European agriculture is future-proof on the other, a new CAP is regularly developed.
The new CAP 2023–2027 aligns with the ambitions of the European Green Deal, the “Farm to Fork” strategy, and the Biodiversity Strategy.
Based on EU CAP regulations, three general objectives with ecological, economic, and social dimensions are put forward:
- Promoting a smart, resilient, and diversified agricultural sector to ensure food security.
- Strengthening environmental care, climate action, and contributing to the Union’s environmental and climate objectives.
- Reinforcing the socio-economic fabric of rural areas.
These are further specified into nine specific objectives that the CAP must address. Additionally, there is a horizontal objective: modernising agriculture and rural areas through knowledge exchange, innovation, and digitalisation, and improving access to research, innovation, knowledge sharing, and training.
Contents of the Flemish CAP Strategic Plan 2023–2027
Each EU Member State has prepared a CAP Strategic Plan based on its specific situation and needs, describing which measures will be used to achieve certain objectives. For Belgium, two plans have been drafted: a Flemish and a Walloon CAP Strategic Plan.
Through a broad set of measures, the Flemish CAP Strategic Plan 2023–2027 aims to address the economic, ecological, and social objectives set by Europe. Below is a brief overview of what is included in the plan.
Active Farmer
The starting point for most CAP measures is that agricultural support must be granted to the active farmer so the CAP budget can be used more effectively. The definition of “active farmer” has been developed against this background.
Conditionality
‘Conditionality’ is the new term for the cross-compliance rules from previous CAP periods. Europe sets the framework for conditionality, but Flanders refines it based on its own challenges. As before, farmers can only receive full area-based and animal-based support if they comply with standards relating to the environment, climate change, public health, plant health, and animal welfare.
Together with eco‑schemes and agri-environment-climate measures—explained further below—conditionality forms the green architecture, which shapes the higher environmental and climate ambitions.
Direct Payment Measures
Income Support
A significant portion of CAP funds remains reserved for basic income support for sustainability: this contributes to a fair income for farmers by providing public goods and compensating for the uneven playing field with producers from non‑EU countries.
The entry of young farmers into the sector is essential. For this reason, the complementary income support for young farmers is increased.
A new measure is introduced: redistributive income support, which ensures a fairer distribution of income support towards smaller farms through an additional payment for up to 30 hectares.
Finally, there is renewed coupled support for specialised beef cattle farming, with entry conditions linked to sustainable grassland management and roughage production.
Eco‑schemes
Eco‑schemes are one of the most notable changes in the new CAP: these are renewable annual commitments in which farmers are compensated for additional efforts that positively contribute to biodiversity, water quality, soil quality, sustainable farming, climate, and/or landscape. Digitalisation and modernisation also play a role.
Rural Development Measures
Agri‑environment‑climate measures
Through these measures (including management agreements), farmers commit to multi‑year efforts for the benefit of the environment, climate, nature, and biodiversity. Farmers can also work on reducing antibiotic use in their animals.
Investments
VLIF
In the new CAP, the Flemish Agricultural Investment Fund (VLIF) is reformed into an enterprise fund to further promote sustainable investments. Conditions for obtaining VLIF support are adapted, and subsidy percentages are expanded, with sustainability as the guiding principle.
Measures in Natura 2000 and High Nature Value Areas
This measure aims to halt the decline and improve the condition of EU‑protected habitats and species.
Establishment of Young and New Farmers
Young farmers receive additional support, including start-up and takeover aid. Those starting a new farm or shifting towards a future-oriented business strategy can also receive support.
Cooperation
The new CAP places increased emphasis on cooperation between farmers and between farmers and other partners. This is reflected in the project-based approach under EIP. There is also a measure to promote participation in an animal welfare label, encouraging livestock farmers to apply standards that go beyond legal requirements.
Through LEADER, new local rural projects can be developed again.
Knowledge Exchange and Information Dissemination
Farm advisory services are being reformed. A new knowledge portfolio system will give farmers access to demand-driven training tailored to their businesses. Farmers can also follow supply-driven training. Demonstration projects will continue to raise awareness about new opportunities in sustainable practices and technologies.
Sectoral Measures
Operational Programmes for Fruit and Vegetables
Producer organisations (POs) and associations of producer organisations (APOs) can submit and implement an operational programme. This allows POs to professionalise further and more easily achieve CAP objectives.
Beekeeping Strategic Plan
This measure aims to equip beekeeping sustainably to deal with problems related to bee mortality and seeks to provide sustainable solutions to improve the production and marketing of apiculture products.
Flemish Rural Network = CAP Network
The Flemish Rural Network serves as the CAP network in Flanders and remains embedded in the Agency for Agriculture and Fisheries during the 2023–2027 programme period.
The establishment of a national CAP network is required by EU CAP regulations, and these networks have the following goals:
- Increasing stakeholder involvement in implementing and, where relevant, drafting the CAP Strategic Plan;
- Supporting the administration of the Member State/region in implementing the CAP Strategic Plan and transitioning to a performance-based delivery model;
- Contributing to improved implementation quality of the CAP Strategic Plan;
- Helping inform the public and potential beneficiaries about the CAP and available support;
- Accelerating innovation in agriculture and rural development, and supporting peer-to-peer learning and the inclusion and interaction of all stakeholders in the knowledge exchange and knowledge-building process;
- Contributing to monitoring and evaluation capacity and activities;
- Supporting the dissemination of results from the CAP Strategic Plan.
The main theme of the Flemish Rural Network during the 2023–2027 programming period is, naturally, the Common Agricultural Policy. This will be further divided into broad subthemes: knowledge and innovation; sustainable entrepreneurship; environment and climate; new entrants in agriculture; biodiversity; LEADER; and cooperation.