Source: European Parliament
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) supports interventions that help farmers to implement actions to prevent crisis situations and build on medium and long-term resilience.
For mitigating short-term impacts, the available tools include direct payments, aiming to stabilise farmers’ incomes, risk management tools, and compensation aid to farmers affected by adverse events.
When needed, the Commission can adopt exceptional support measures, as it was the case in 2022 when input costs increased strongly. In addition, the Commission presented the action plan for Affordable Energy[1] to help reducing energy costs for industry and households and building a genuine Energy Union.
The CAP is implemented in shared management with the national authorities. Member States have an obligation to protect Union funds from irregularities and fraud, and the Commission is committed to ensuring that these funds are spent appropriately and reach the rightful beneficiaries.
Furthermore, Member States are also bound by the obligation of disbursing the payments in full and for the measures under the Integrated administration and control system at the latest by June 30 of the year following the claim.
The Commission conducts risk-based audits to check whether the CAP governance systems put in place by the Member State function properly to ensure the legality and regularity of the CAP expenditure. Such audits were conducted in Greece in 2024, and the Member State was notified of the results.
- [1] https://energy.ec.europa.eu/strategy/affordable-energy_en