In figures: The 2023–2027 CAP will be implemented using EU funds comprising €17.3 billion in support under the CAP’s first pillar and €4.7 billion under its second pillar. In addition, Transitional National Support, financed entirely from the national budget, will be implemented under the CAP’s first pillar.

Common goals, measures adapted to local conditions

Although the objectives and principles of the Common Agricultural Policy apply in all EU countries, detailed solutions are adapted to the specific situation of each Member State. Each European Union Member State has developed a national CAP Strategic Plan covering income support, rural development and market measures. In preparing their strategic plans, EU countries have contributed to achieving ten specific objectives using a broad set of policy measures made available by the Commission, which can be shaped according to national needs and capabilities.

10 main objectives:

  • ensuring farmers’ fair incomes,
  • increasing competitiveness,
  • improving farmers’ position in the food chain,
  • combating climate change,
  • caring for the environment,
  • preserving landscapes and biodiversity,
  • supporting generational renewal,
  • dynamic development of rural areas,
  • protecting food quality and health,
  • promoting knowledge transfer and innovation.

Results and effectiveness – common rules

CAP legislation establishes a common set of indicators within the new framework for implementing, monitoring and evaluating objectives. The indicators will be monitored through annual reports on the achievement of objectives and a biennial review of the results of CAP Strategic Plans.

Ecology at the forefront

The Common Agricultural Policy supports farmers in implementing the principles of the European Green Deal. This means both greater environmental ambition (in its CAP Strategic Plan, each EU country must demonstrate greater ambition in environmental and climate action compared with the previous period) and specific solutions to support farmers:

– Contribution to achieving the Green Deal objectives: national CAP Strategic Plans contribute to achieving the Green Deal objectives;
– Enhanced conditionality: CAP beneficiary payments are linked to a stricter set of mandatory requirements. For example, in every farm, at least 3% of arable land is allocated to biodiversity and non-productive features, with the possibility of receiving support through eco-schemes to reach 7%. Wetlands and peatlands are also protected;
– Eco-schemes: at least 25% of the budget for direct payments is allocated to eco-schemes, providing stronger incentives for climate- and environment-friendly farming practices and approaches (such as organic farming, agroecology and regenerative agriculture), as well as for improving animal welfare;
– Rural development: at least 35% of funds are allocated to measures supporting climate, biodiversity, the environment and animal welfare;
– Operational programmes: in the fruit and vegetable sector, operational programmes allocate at least 15% of their expenditure to environmental protection;
– Climate and biodiversity: 40% of the CAP budget must be climate-related and support EU action for biodiversity.

In practice: direct and area-based support for Polish farmers

The Common Agricultural Policy rules adopted by Poland provide for four basic forms of direct and area-based support for 2023–2027:

I.1 Basic income support

Basic income support is granted if:
– the farmer meets the criteria for an active farmer;
– the eligible area of the holding for which payment has been requested is at least 1 ha or, in the case of farmers owning less than 1 ha but receiving coupled payments for animals or an animal-welfare payment, the total direct payments that would be granted to the beneficiary in a given year, before the application of penalties, including administrative penalties, amount to at least the PLN equivalent of €200;
– the agricultural parcel declared for payment is located on land consisting of eligible hectares and has an area of at least 0.1 ha
– the eligible hectares remain in the farmer’s possession as of 31 May 2023.

Basic income support is an annual payment per eligible hectare, uniform throughout the country, independent of the type of agricultural production carried out, the results achieved and the volume of production

I.1.1 Payment for small farms

A farmer may receive a payment for small farms if the total area:

  1. of land included in the area approved for basic income support and owned by the farmer is at least 1 ha, and
  2. of agricultural land owned by the farmer on 31 May 2024 is no more than 5 ha.

The payment for small farms replaces all other types of direct payments, including eco-schemes.

When applying for the payment for small farms, farmers may also apply for transitional national support, Less Favoured Areas payments, organic farming payments, agri-environment-climate payments and afforestation payments. The payment rate is the PLN equivalent of €225 per hectare of area approved for basic income support. The maximum payment is no more than the PLN equivalent of €1,125, converted using the euro-to-zloty exchange rate, after taking into account any penalties and reductions. The payment for small farms is granted by decision of the head of the district office of the Agency having jurisdiction according to the farmer’s place of residence or registered office.

Detailed rules concerning payments for small farms can be found on the ARiMR website:
https://www.gov.pl/web/arimr/platnosc-dla-malych-gospodarstw-24

I.2 Redistributive payment

The redistributive payment is additional financial support intended for smaller farms. Its aim is to promote a more even distribution of funds among farmers, with greater emphasis on small and medium-sized farms. To apply for the redistributive payment, a farm must have between 1 and 300 ha, but the payment is granted for no more than 30 ha of land.

I.3 Payment for young farmers

The main objective of the payment is to facilitate the establishment of agricultural activities by young farmers and support structural adjustments to their farms after they begin farming.

The payment is available for land included in the area approved for the single
area payment to an active farmer who:

  • is a natural person establishing a farm for the first time as the farm manager, or who established such a farm within the five years preceding the first submission of an application for the single area payment under the direct payment scheme for 2015–2020, and whose age in the first year of submitting an application for the single area payment under the direct payment scheme for 2015–2020 did not exceed 40 years (i.e. had not turned 41 in the first year of submitting the application for the single area payment under the direct payment scheme for 2015–2020);
  • is a legal person or a group of persons (including spouses), provided that at least one natural person meeting the young farmer criteria (age,
    start of activity) exercises effective and lasting control over the legal person with regard to management decisions, benefits and financial risk in the first year in which the legal person submits an application for payment for young farmers.

Detailed information on payments for young farmers can be found on the ARiMR website:
https://www.gov.pl/web/arimr/platnosc-dla-mlodych-rolnikow-15