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DRAFT OPINION (COM(2025)0560 – C10-0169/2025 – 2025/0241(COD))

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing the conditions for the implementation of the Union support to the Common Agriculture Policy for the period from 2028 to 2034

REGI-PA-786678

Committee on Regional Development · Rapporteur: André Rougé

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The Committee on Regional Development's draft opinion responds to the Commission's proposal for a regulation on Union support to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2028 to 2034. It rejects merging cohesion and CAP funds into National and Regional Partnership Plans and proposes amendments to keep the CAP autonomous. The rapporteur sets out five principles: keep cohesion and CAP instruments separate, ring-fence CAP funds, maintain CAP amounts in constant euro at 2021-2027 levels, keep the POSEI scheme for outermost regions, and maintain POSEI amounts in constant euro. The amendments replace references to National and Regional Partnership Plans with CAP Strategic Plans throughout the proposed regulation, add provisions on outermost regions and the smaller Aegean islands, and set rules on national contributions, aid limits, and support for young farmers.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes that the Committee on Regional Development oppose merging cohesion and CAP funds, set out five principles for consensus, and amend the proposed CAP regulation to replace references to National and Regional Partnership Plans with CAP Strategic Plans, ring-fence CAP and POSEI funds, and add provisions for outermost regions and the smaller Aegean islands.

Key points

  1. The rapporteur opposes merging cohesion and CAP policies into a single fund through National and Regional Partnership Plans, saying this would undermine budgetary predictability and transparency.
  2. The opinion proposes five principles: keep cohesion and CAP instruments distinct, ring-fence CAP funds, maintain CAP amounts in constant euro at 2021-2027 levels, maintain the POSEI scheme, and maintain POSEI amounts in constant euro.
  3. All references to National and Regional Partnership Plans in the proposed CAP regulation are replaced by references to CAP Strategic Plans, and agricultural provisions from the NRP proposal are moved into the CAP regulation.
  4. A new recital states that CAP financial resources are legally identified, distinct and non-fungible, financed by an autonomous budgetary envelope that cannot be redeployed or transferred, and maintained at least at 2021-2027 levels in constant prices.
  5. Member States must include in their CAP Strategic Plans a strategy for generational renewal and a comprehensive 'starter pack' for young farmers, including a package of interventions targeting young farmers.
  6. New recitals require Member States to include measures for each outermost region in their CAP Strategic Plans to address needs such as food security, water management and climate change resilience, and to support supply of essential products and local production.
  7. New articles set rules for the smaller Aegean islands, including specific supply arrangements, support for local agricultural products, and controls and penalties, with Greece responsible for implementation.
  8. New articles set rules for outermost regions, including POSEI-type measures with a guaranteed minimum financial envelope that cannot be reduced or absorbed into other EU instruments, specific supply arrangements, and support for agricultural products.
  9. A new article sets minimum national contribution rates to estimated costs: 15% for less developed regions, 40% for transition regions, and 60% for more developed regions, with higher EU contribution possible for outermost regions and rural areas with structural handicaps.
  10. A new article limits coupled income support to a maximum of 20% of the Union contribution for CAP income-support interventions, with a possible increase of 5 percentage points for protein crops, mixed farming, or areas at risk of abandonment in Eastern border regions.
  11. A new article sets the planned average aid per hectare for degressive area-based income support between EUR 130 and EUR 240 for each Member State.
  12. A new article establishes a crop-specific payment for cotton for Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and Portugal, with national base areas, fixed yields and reference amounts per hectare.

Who is affected

  • Farmers and fund beneficiaries, who would face reduced budgetary predictability and transparency if cohesion and CAP funds are merged.
  • Outermost regions, which would receive POSEI-type measures with a ring-fenced minimum financial envelope and support for local production.
  • The smaller Aegean islands, which would receive specific supply arrangements and support for local agricultural products.
  • Young farmers, who would benefit from a generational renewal strategy and a 'starter pack' under CAP Strategic Plans.
  • Member States, which must establish national contribution rates, design CAP Strategic Plans, and implement controls and penalties.

Figures and deadlines

  • CAP amounts must be maintained at least at the level of the 2021-2027 budget in constant prices.
  • POSEI amounts must be at least equivalent in constant euro to the 2021-2027 level.
  • Minimum national contribution rates: 15% for less developed regions, 40% for transition regions, 60% for more developed regions.
  • National contribution rate for each Interreg chapter no lower than 20%, reduced by 5 percentage points for outermost and cross-border cooperation chapters.
  • Planned average aid per hectare for degressive area-based income support: not less than EUR 130 and not more than EUR 240.
  • Coupled income support limited to a maximum of 20% of the Union contribution, with possible increase of 5 percentage points.
  • National base areas for cotton: Bulgaria 3 342 ha; Greece 250 000 ha; Spain 48 000 ha; Portugal 360 ha.
  • Fixed yields for cotton: Bulgaria 1.2 tonne/ha; Greece 3.2 tonnes/ha; Spain 3.5 tonnes/ha; Portugal 2.2 tonne/ha.