The countries of the European Union adopted on Thursday the common agricultural policy (CAP) for the period that will apply from January 2023, with which the bloc wants to increase the contribution of the agricultural sector to the fight against climate change and creates a new management model based on national strategic plans. The CAP reform process has taken three years of work between member states and European institutions. The agreement was reached in June 2021 after the Council and the European Parliament adopted their negotiating positions nine months earlier. “After more than three years of hard work we have finally reached the finish line. The new CAP adopted today marks a milestone in EU agricultural policy, pointing to a new, fairer and more sustainable phase for European producers,” said Slovenian Agriculture Minister Joze Podgorsek, who holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
The CAP is the largest item in the EU budget with a budget of 380,000 million euros for the period 2021-2027. Spain will receive some 37,000 million in direct payments for farmers and livestock breeders and almost 8,000 million for rural development over the seven years.
