National Strategic Plans of some EU Member States are already prepared

Some of the Member States published their strategic plans for the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on 25 January 2022. Bulgaria’s National Strategic Plan is delayed.

The European Commission already presented in 2018 its proposal for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), introducing a new requirement to modernise and simplify the EU’s agricultural policy. Following lengthy negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission, an agreement was reached and the new CAP was officially adopted on 2 December 2021. It is to enter into force on 1 January 2023.

The new CAP is based on a more flexible performance and results-based approach that takes into account local conditions and needs, while at the same time raising the EU’s level of ambition regarding sustainability. It is built around ten objectives, which are also the basis on which the EU countries draw up their CAP Strategic Plans.

Each national plan combines a wide range of diverse activities aimed at the specific needs of the respective country, while at the same time being oriented towards the common objectives set out in the “Green Deal”.

Initially, the deadline for the submission of the national strategic plans was announced as 31 December 2021.

So far, the European Commission has published the following CAP National Strategic Plans of Denmark, Estonia, Greece, France, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Poland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Latvia.

Published national strategic plans

Bulgaria’s National Strategic Plan is delayed

The Bulgarian CAP Strategic Plan is expected to be ready in March, with its finalisation being a priority task of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Work on the Strategic Plan through which Bulgaria will implement the European Common Agricultural Policy has been ongoing since the beginning of 2020, and most of it has already been examined by the Thematic Working Group, according to the press office of the Ministry of Agriculture. The contentious issues regarding subsidy ceilings and the redistributive payment are still being discussed in the working groups, jointly with the sectoral organisations.

For the time being, the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture is that the maximum amount for a single holding should be 100,000 euro.