7/6/23, 11:31 AM The Commission approves the CAP Strategic Plans of Germany, Greece and Lithuania

Agriculture and rural development

NEWS ARTICLE 21 November 2022 Brussels Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural
Development

The Commission approves the CAP Strategic Plans of

Germany, Greece and Lithuania

Today, the European Commission approved the CAP Strategic Plans (/cap-my-country/cap-strategic-
plans_en) of Germany, Greece and Lithuania. The new Common Agricultural Policy (/common-
agricultural-policy/cap-overview/cap-2023-27_en)(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

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7/6/23, 11:31 AM The Commission approves the CAP Strategic Plans of Germany, Greece and Lithuania

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 (/cap-my-country/cap-strategic-plans_en), 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 (/common-agricultural-policy/cap-overview/cap-2023-27/key-policy-objectives-cap-2023-27_en),
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 (https://food.ec.europa.eu/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en) and
Biodiversity (https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/biodiversity-strategy-2030_en) 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 (/cap-my-country/cap-strategic-plans/approved-csp-0_en).

Background
The European Commission presented its proposal for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform in 2018,
introducing a new way of working (/common-agricultural-policy/cap-overview/cap-2023-
27_en#anewwayofworking) to modernise the EU's policy on agriculture. Following extensive negotiations

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7/6/23, 11:31 AM The Commission approves the CAP Strategic Plans of Germany, Greece and Lithuania

between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission, an agreement was
reached and the new CAP was formally adopted on 2 December 2021.

The deadline set by co-legislators for Member States to submit their CAP Strategic Plan was 1 January 2022.
After receiving the Plans, the Commission sent observation letters to all of the Member States by 25 May 2022.
They were published on the Europa website (/cap-my-country/cap-strategic-plans/observation-letters_en)
together with the reactions of all Member States, in line with the transparency principle. A structured dialogue
between the Commission services and national authorities resumed thereafter to solve remaining issues and
finalise the revised CAP Plans.

Germany, Greece and Lithuania submitted their first CAP Strategic Plan proposals on 21 February 2022, 30
December 2021 and 5 January 2022 respectively, after consultations with stakeholders. They then sent their
reviewed proposals, addressing the Commission’s observations, on 14 October for Germany, 17 October for
Greece and 20 October for Lithuania.

To be approved, each Plan must be complete and compatible with the legislation, and ambitious enough to
deliver on the CAP objectives and EU environmental and climate commitments.

For more information

“At a glance”: insights into the CAP Strategic Plans of Germany, Greece and Lithuania (/cap-my-country/cap-
strategic-plans/approved-csp-0_en)

The CAP 2023-27 (/common-agricultural-policy/cap-overview/cap-2023-27_en)

CAP Strategic Plans (/cap-my-country/cap-strategic-plans_en)

Observation letters on CAP Strategic Plans (/cap-my-country/cap-strategic-plans/observation-letters_en)

Details
Publication date 21 November 2022

Author Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

Location Brussels

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