Just Accepted Manuscripts
Research Articles

Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plans: smokescreens or instruments for evidence-based policymaking?

Just Accepted
  • Emil Erjavec,
  • Ilona Rac,
  • Daniele Bertolozzi-Caredio
Emil Erjavec
University of Ljubljana
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/rea-16856

Published 2025-12-19

Keywords

  • Common agricultural policy,
  • Strategic planning,
  • Policy Cycle,
  • science-policy dialogue,
  • multi-annual financial framework

How to Cite

Erjavec, E., Rac, I., & Bertolozzi-Caredio, D. (2025). Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plans: smokescreens or instruments for evidence-based policymaking?. Italian Review of Agricultural Economics. https://doi.org/10.36253/rea-16856

Copyright (c) 2025 Emil Erjavec, Ilona Rac, Daniele Bertolozzi-Caredio

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Funding data

Abstract

Alongside the devolution of decision-making powers to Member States, the latest reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) introduced CAP Strategic Plans to enhance the design and implementation of increasingly complex policy objectives and to reinforce the use of evidence-based policymaking (EBPM). This paper is based on desk research, combining a comparative review of European Union (EU) regulations and programming documents, and insights from the Tools4CAP project, which conducted interviews, surveys, and focus groups across Member States. The gaps in strategic planning are evident in the weak logical connection between individual phases of CSP preparation and the weak evidence-based justification of decisions regarding the selection and design of interventions. Quantitative tools and scientific evidence were underutilised, while political-economy constraints and path dependency dominated decision-making. As a result, CAP Strategic Plans were often developed through a series of disconnected tasks, producing documents with loosely linked sections lacking overall coherence. The upcoming integration of CAP planning into broader National and Regional Partnership Plans may simplify procedures but risks weakening EBPM principles. Systematic integration of science into planning, methodology development, interdisciplinarity, and better communication between researchers and decision-makers are needed to realise the ideal concept of EBPM. Institutional capacities for the use of evidence need to be strengthened, mandatory impact assessments and open data platforms introduced, and dialogue between science and policy enhanced. The limitations include reliance on secondary data and qualitative insights rather than detailed empirical evaluation across all Member States.

Just Accepted

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. Bryson J., Edwards L.H. (2017). Strategic planning in the public sector. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.128.
  2. Bryson J.M. (2018). Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement (5th edition). John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA.
  3. Bryson J.M., Edwards L.H., Van Slyke D.M. (2018). Getting strategic about strategic planning research. Public Management Review, 20(3): 317-339. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2017.1285111.
  4. Bryson J.M., George B. (2024). Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement (6th edition). John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, USA.
  5. Cagliero R., Mazzocchi G., Monteleone A., Pierangeli F., Manzoni di Chiosca P., Romano E. (2022). A participative methodology for prioritising intervention logic in the design of the Italian CAP Strategic Plan. Italian Review of Agricultural Economics, 77(3): 25-40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/rea-13717.
  6. Cagliero R., Vassallo M., Pierangeli F., Pupo D’Andrea M.R., Monteleone A., Camaione B., Tarangioli S. (2023). The Common Agricultural Policy 2023-2027. How do member states implement the new delivery model? Italian Review of Agricultural Economics, 78(1): 49-66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/rea-14318.
  7. Cairney P. (2016). The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making. Palgrave Macmillan UK. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51781-4.
  8. Cairney P. (2019). Understanding Public Policy: Theories and Issues (2nd edition). Bloomsbury Academic, London.
  9. Cairney P., Oliver K. (2017). Evidence-based policymaking is not like evidence-based medicine, so how far should you go to bridge the divide between evidence and policy? Health Research Policy and Systems, 15(1): 35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-017-0192-x.
  10. Castro P.D., Miglietta P.P., Vecchio Y. (2020). The Common Agricultural Policy 2021-2027: a new history for European agriculture. Italian Review of Agricultural Economics, 75(3): 5-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13128/rea-12703.
  11. de la Rosa M. (2010). The Common Agricultural Policy: The Future of the CAP and Why Real Reform Will Never Happen, European Union Center of Excellence, Miami, FL, USA. https://aei.pitt.edu/44471/1/deLaRosaJrCAPediEUMA.pdf.
  12. Dicks L.V., Hodge I., Randall N.P., Scharlemann J.P.W., Siriwardena G.M., Smith H.G., Smith R.K., Sutherland W.J. (2014). A transparent process for “evidence-informed” policy making: a process for evidence-informed policy making. Conservation Letters, 7(2): 119-125. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12046.
  13. Dwyer J., Ward N., Lowe P., Baldock D. (2007). European rural development under the Common Agricultural Policy’s ‘second pillar’: institutional conservatism and innovation. Regional Studies, 41(7): 873-888. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343400601142795.
  14. El Benni N., Grovermann C., Finger R. (2023). Towards more evidence-based agricultural and food policies. Q Open, 3(3), qoad003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/qopen/qoad003.
  15. Erjavec E., Rac I. (2023). Improving the quality of CAP strategic planning through enhancing the role of agricultural economics. EuroChoices, 22(2): 71-76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1746-692X.12393.
  16. EU CAP Network (2023). Synthesis of ex ante evaluations of CAP post 2020, Brussels. https://eu-cap-network.ec.europa.eu/publications/synthesis-ex-ante-evaluations-cap-post-2020_en.
  17. European Commission (2020). Communication from The Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Recommendations to the Member States as Regards Their Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy, COM/2020/846 final (2020), Brussels. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52020DC0846.
  18. European Commission (2023a). Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council: Summary of CAP Strategic Plans for 2023-2027: Joint Effort and Collective Ambition, Brussels. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52023DC0707.
  19. European Commission (2023b). Mapping and Analysis of CAP Strategic Plans. Assessment of joint efforts for 2023-27, Brussels. https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/common-agricultural-policy/cap-overview/cmef/regulation-and-simplification/mapping-and-analysis-cap-strategic-plans_en.
  20. European Commission (2025a). Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL establishing a budget expenditure tracking and performance framework and other horizontal rules for the Union programmes and activities, COM/2025/545, Brussels. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52025PC0545&qid=1762364884931.
  21. European Commission (2025b). Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL Establishing the Conditions for the Implementation of the Union Support to the Common Agriculture Policy for the Period from 2028 to 2034, COM/2025/560, Brussels. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52025PC0560.
  22. European Commission (2025c). Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL establishing the European Fund for economic, social and territorial cohesion, agriculture and rural, fisheries and maritime, prosperity and security for the period 2028-2034 and amending Regulation (EU) 2023/955 and Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, COM/2025/565, Brussels. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52025PC0565.
  23. European Court of Auditors (2024). Special report 20/2024: Common Agricultural Policy Plans – Greener, but not matching the EU’s ambitions for the climate and the environment, No. 20/2024, Brussels. https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/publications/sr-2024-20.
  24. Folkeson C., Valli C., Avis K., Rouillard J., Underwood E., Parissaki M., Bertolozzi Caredio D., Devot A. (2024). Mapping and Analysis of CAP Strategic Plans, Publications Office of the European Union, Brussels. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2762/71556.
  25. Hepping S., Breeman G., Vijver M.G. (2025). A CAP on ambitions: Power, fragmentation, and the struggle for transformative policy in the post-2022 common agricultural policy debates. NJAS: Impact in Agricultural and Life Sciences, 97(1), 2521262. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/27685241.2025.2521262
  26. Howlett M. (2018). The contexts and components of policy design: Governance modes and policy regimes. In Howlett M., Mukherjee I. (eds) Routledge Handbook of Policy Design (pp. 20-33). Routledge, London.
  27. Howlett M., Mukherjee I. (2018). Routledge Handbook of Policy Design. Routledge, London.
  28. Hudson B., Hunter D., Peckham S. (2019). Policy failure and the policy-implementation gap: can policy support programs help? Policy Design and Practice, 2(1): 1-14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2018.1540378.
  29. Johnsen Å. (2015). Strategic management thinking and practice in the public sector: a strategic planning for all seasons? Financial Accountability & Management, 31(3): 243-268.
  30. Mayne J. (2007). Challenges and lessons in implementing results-based management. Evaluation, 13(1): 87-109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1356389007073683.
  31. McNie E.C. (2007). Reconciling the supply of scientific information with user demands: an analysis of the problem and review of the literature. Environmental Science & Policy, 10(1): 17-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2006.10.004.
  32. Mezzacapo E. (2024). Mind the gap: assessing MSs’ implementation of farm to farm-to-fork targets within the 2023–2027 common agricultural policy. European Journal of Risk Regulation, 15(2): 265-279. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/err.2024.44.
  33. Munch A., Badouix M., Gorny H., Messinger I., Schuh B., Brkanovic S., Monika B., Bodart S., Van Bunnen P., Runge T. (2023). Research for AGRI Committee-Comparative analysis of the CAP Strategic Plans and their effective contribution to the achievement of the EU objectives, Publications Office of the European Union, Brussels. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2023/747255/IPOL_STU(2023)747255_EN.pdf.
  34. Organisation for Economic Co-ordination and Development (2020). Strengthening Governance of EU Funds under Cohesion Policy: Administrative Capacity Building Roadmaps, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/9b71c8d8-en.
  35. Organisation for Economic Co-ordination and Development (2024). Social issues in agriculture in rural areas, OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers No. 212, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/fec15b38-en.
  36. Poister T.H. (2010). The future of strategic planning in the public sector: linking strategic management and performance. Public Administration Review, 70(s1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02284.x.
  37. Poister T.H., Streib G.D. (1999). Strategic management in the public sector: concepts, models, and processes. Public Productivity & Management Review, 22(3): 308-325. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3380706.
  38. Popp T.R., Feindt P.H., Daedlow K. (2021). Policy feedback and lock-in effects of new agricultural policy instruments: a qualitative comparative analysis of support for financial risk management tools in OECD countries. Land Use Policy, 103, 105313. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105313.
  39. Rondinelli D.A. (1976). Public planning and political strategy. Long Range Planning, 9(2): 75-82.
  40. Runge T., Latacz-Lohmann U., Schaller L., Todorova K., Daugbjerg C., Termansen M., Liira J., Le Gloux F., Dupraz P., Leppanen J., Fogarasi J., Vigh E.Z., Bradfield T., Hennessy T., Targetti S., Viaggi D., Berzina I., Schulp C., Majewski E., Bouriaud L., Baciu G., Prokofieva I., Velazquez F.J.B. (2022). Implementation of eco-schemes in fifteen European Union MSs. EuroChoices, 21: 19-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1746-692X.12352.
  41. Sanderson I. (2002). Evaluation, policy learning and evidence‐based policy making. Public Administration, 80(1): 1-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9299.00292.
  42. Strydom W.F., Funke N., Nienaber S., Nortje K., Steyn M. (2010). Evidence-based policymaking: a review. South African Journal of Science, 106(5/6): 1-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajs.v106i5/6.249.
  43. Suazo-Galdames I.C., Saracostti M., Chaple-Gil A.M. (2025). Scientific evidence and public policy: a systematic review of barriers and enablers for evidence-informed decision. Frontiers in Communication, 10, 1632305. DOI: https://doi.org//10.3389/fcomm.2025.1632305.
  44. Termeer C.J.A.M., Werkman R.A. (2011). Changing closed agricultural policy communities. Critical Policy Studies, 5(3): 283-298. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2011.606301.
  45. Tools4CAP Consortium (2023a). Deliverable D1.1: Inventory of methods & tools used by MSs, Horizon Europe Project Tools4CAP (Grant Agreement No. 101086311). https://www.tools4cap.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/D1.1-Inventory-of-methods-and-tools.pdf
  46. Tools4CAP Consortium (2023b). Deliverable D1.2: Tools4CAP conceptual framework, Horizon Europe Project Tools4CAP (Grant Agreement No. 101086311). https://www.tools4cap.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/D1.2-Conceptual-framework.pdf
  47. Tools4CAP Consortium (2024a). Deliverable D1.4: Inventory of methods & tools used by MSs – Extended version, Horizon Europe Project Tools4CAP (Grant Agreement No. 101086311). https://www.tools4cap.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/D1.4-Inventory-of-methods-tools-used-by-MSs-II.pdf
  48. Tools4CAP Consortium (2024b). Deliverable 6.5: Summary report and analysis of the first-round focus groups, Horizon Europe Project Tools4CAP (Grant Agreement No. 101086311). https://www.tools4cap.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/D6.5-Analysis-of-first-round-focus-groups.pdf
  49. Tools4CAP Consortium (2024c). Deliverable 1.3: Evaluation of methods and tools, Horizon Europe Project Tools4CAP (Grant Agreement No. 101086311). *Tools4CAP_Evaluation-and-benchmarking-of-methods-and-tools-D1.3.pdf
  50. Weiss C.H. (1998). Evaluation: Methods for Studying Programs and Policies. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA.