LibGuides: CoR Plenary (April 2022): Future EU State aid rules for agriculture, rural areas and forestry

Future EU State aid rules for agriculture, rural areas and forestry

CAP horizontal regulation: Financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy for 2023-2027- EU Legislation in Progress
As part of the preparation of the EU budget for 2021-2027, the European Commission put forward a new set of regulations to shape the future EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on 1 June 2018. The proposal for a regulation on the financing, management and monitoring of the CAP provides the legislative framework for adapting the financing, management and monitoring rules to a new CAP delivery model. This seeks to achieve more subsidiarity and simplification, with greater responsibility given to Member States, a shift from ensuring single transaction compliance to monitoring system performance in each Member State, and reduced 'red tape', among other things. Following their adoption in December 2021, the new CAP regulations will apply from 1 January 2023.
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EP Briefing, December 2021
CAP strategic plans
The Commission's legislative proposals on the future of the common agricultural policy (CAP) were published on 1 June 2018. They comprise three proposals: a regulation setting out rules on support for CAP strategic plans; a regulation on the single common market organisation (CMO) and a horizontal regulation on financing, managing and monitoring the CAP. The proposal for a regulation on CAP strategic plans introduces a new delivery model, described by the Commission as a fundamental shift in the CAP, involving a move from compliance towards results and performance. It includes a new distribution of responsibilities between the EU and Member States. A new planning process is proposed that will cover all the CAP measures, previously covered by different regulations and policy designs. Following its adoption in December 2021, the CAP strategic plans regulation will apply as of 1 January 2023. Fourth edition of a briefing originally drafted by James McEldowney and Patrick Kelly. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure.
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EP Briefing, December 2021
The CAP's impact on knowledge exchange and advice Evaluation support study
Although since the 1960s agricultural innovations have enabled major productivity gains to feed the entire European population at a fair price, this has not been without consequences for the environment and society. Our specialised, productivity-oriented systems have proven unable to face the dual challenge of sufficient food production and sustainability. Far beyond the numerous standards set by the EU for good agricultural practices, substantial technical and organisational changes in production systems are needed. To address this vast mission of rethinking the way of “doing agriculture” and develop viable solutions, there is an increasing political emphasis on the importance of knowledge exchange and innovation in agriculture and rural areas.
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Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (European Commission),
January 2022
Cultivating rural development How the EU is investing in rural communities
In 2021, the European Commission defined its long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas. While the Committee of the Regions (CoR) applauds this comprehensive vision, it also advocates for further investments in rural areas. This paper presents the EU’s long-term vision for rural areas and the CoR’s reaction to it. A brief guide on existing EU funding schemes for rural development is also presented in the final section.
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European Committee of the Regions,
January 2022
The regional dimension of the CAP 2007-2018
. This report explores a rich data set on disaggregated CAP payments and regional characteristics to describe the regional dimension of the CAP. It does so by identifying and quantifying three relevant dimensions of the policy: the time dimension, associated with the reforms it has undergone in the period of analysis; the spatial dimension by framing its implementation in the rurality context of the EU territory and; the mix dimension by typifying the different implementation models of the policy.
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Joint Research Centre (European Commission), November 2021
The impact of CAP on territorial development of rural areas
In the first half of 2020, the European Committee of the Regions designed and launched a consultation on ‘Evaluation of the CAP impact on territorial development of rural areas’. Part 1 of this report summarises the results of the consultation which took the form of an online questionnaire and, overall, involved more than 200 stakeholders to different degrees. Conclusions and policy pointers for the future are drawn in Part 2.
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European Committee of the Regions, June 2021

Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies in the EU? Exploring the role of state aid rules
The paper aims to identify and analyse potential legal avenues for phasing out fossil fuel subsidies (FFS) in the European Union (EU) using State aid rules. Our analysis reveals that the EU State aid rules would allow the European Commission to effectively target and monitor a vast number of FFS. From a policy perspective, the requirements for notification, examination, transparency, reporting, and recovery of unlawfully granted aid are of particular importance. The legal framework also provides avenues for the EU Commission to start a ‘Fossil Fuel Inquiry’, while providing important tools for civil society to apply pressure on states for the removal of FFS. Based on our legal analysis and pertinent literature, we discuss which of these different FFS and corresponding estimates are likely (or not) to fall under the EU State aid rules. Despite inherent uncertainties, the EU State aid toolbox offers various possibilities to the EU to actively advance its climate change policy and comply with its international commitments to reduce FFS.

Julian Nowaga, Luis Mundacac and Max Ahman, CLIMATE POLICY, 2021, VOL. 21, NO. 8, 1037–1052