Target group

The seminar will be most useful to officials with a good understanding of the CAP and the EU decision-making process. It is addressed to managers, senior officials at all levels of government and local authorities, officials from public enterprises, academics, representatives of business and farmers associations and other practitioners.

Description

Although agriculture is considered to be an important area of shared competence between the Union and the Member States, in practice the EU has extensive competence to decide on the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy, especially on market measures and direct payments. The primary aim of the rules and mechanisms of the CAP is to provide a system of market support and protection of agriculture, while securing the proper functioning of the internal market, including the rules of competition.

Since its inception, the CAP has played a central role in the development of the EU. After the radical reform of the CAP in 2003 - when the previous system of price and product support changed to a system of income support fully decoupled from any kind and quantity of production - a new package of proposals has been submitted by the European Commission for further reform, in conjunction with the new Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, which is under negotiation. The proposals aim for a sustainable and innovative agriculture by linking the CAP with the 2020 Strategy and new challenges stemming from the current economic crisis, climate change and environmental degradation. They also address market and policy failures, as well as rural underdevelopment.

Learning Methodology

An interactive approach will be followed by all the speakers, encouraging discussion with the participants and using a mixture of training tools (lectures, power point presentations, case analysis). The seminar seeks to transfer knowledge which is immediately relevant to the work of officials dealing with the implementation of the CAP at national level.

Objectives

The purpose of the seminar is to examine in detail the various dimensions of the reform proposals, the changes requested and the current stage of the ongoing negotiations by identifying possible compromises. Issues such as the future of direct payments, market measures, the greening of the CAP in relation to the current cross-compliance principles and the new rural development policy measures, will be critically analysed by speakers from the European Commission and various Member States, to give participants a better understanding of the factors that will determine the implementation of the new rules and procedures.

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Dit onderzoeksinstituut streeft ernaar om de kennis van ambtenaren die zich met de EU bezighouden te vergroten door het ontwikkelen en aanbieden van uiteenlopende hoogwaardige diensten zoals lespakketten. Het instituut wil wetenschappelijke kennis en praktische 'know-how' met elkaar verbinden. Het European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA) bestaat al meer dan 25 jaar.