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Agriculture and rural development

Indicators

  • The common monitoring and evaluation framework (CMEF) has included more than 200 indicators used to monitor CAP implementation at EU and national level in the programming period 2014-20.
  • Since 2018, the European Commission has published the CAP indicators in the form of visually dynamic dashboards on the agri-food data portal.
  • In addition to underpinning the assessment of the accountability and efficiency of EU expenditure, the indicators also support policy evaluations.
  • The evaluations of the CAP for 2014-20 include data from the annual reporting on CAP implementation collected by EU countries, as well as data on the context in which the CAP operates (mainly from Eurostat).

Agri-food data portal

Evaluations

  • Evaluations, as the main tool to assess the policy’s tangible results and impact, provide evidence for decision-making and strengthen transparency, learning and accountability.
  • More than 20 thematic evaluations on various aspects of the CAP, conducted by the Commission and the EU countries’ interim evaluations of their 2014-20 rural development programmes, provide comprehensive information on the performance of the CAP.

Experience drawn from the CMEF

  • The CMEF for 2014-20 covered the whole policy for the first time: direct income support payments to farmers and sectoral interventions (Pillar I), and rural development (Pillar II).
  • Since its inception, the CMEF has shown several strengths. Notably, the proposed indicators give comprehensive coverage of different policy areas; new indicators were developed (e.g. on geographical indications) and data quality was improved.
  • There have been also some shortcomings in the framework, not all linked to the CAP. For example, some indicators were incomplete, with too little geographical detail, and of low quality. For some indicators data has been available too infrequently.
  • While the thematic evaluations were based on a rigorous methodological approach, most of them could not quantify the CAP’s contribution. This was due to data limitations, the time lag before the policy impacts materialise, external factors and the difficulty in establishing a direct link between policy and outcome.
  • EU countries have also needed to learn how to generate evidence to make the policy implementation more result focused.

PMEF – new performance, monitoring and evaluation framework

The new CAP, agreed in 2021, draws many lessons from the 2014-20 period and proposes several improvements for better monitoring and measuring of CAP results for 2023-27.

  • A new performance, monitoring and evaluation framework (PMEF) which has fewer indicators and is streamlined across all areas and funding sources, covering all objectives and allowing better measurement of progress in achieving CAP strategic plan targets (tracking of results).
  • The PMEF foresees greater reliance on EU country notifications and statistics. There are new mandatory indicators on biodiversity, pesticides and animal health. A new satellite area monitoring system and more detailed data collection on farming practices will also be introduced.
  • The PMEF aims to limit the burden on farmers and administrations by exploring ways to improve data sharing.

The first comprehensive data on 2023-27 CAP implementation will be available in 2025. Along with the ex-post evaluations of the rural development programmes for 2014-20 (due in 2026), they will contribute to the continuous assessment of CAP performance.