EU CAP Network workshop on Durability of Investments

Since the beginning of the programming period 2014-22, the EU has supported, under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), a considerable number of private projects for farmers and SMEs for farming, agri-food and diversification purposes, as well as a great number of public and semi-public entities all throughout the Member States to improve public infrastructure and basic services in rural areas. Rural development funding, in both the 2014-22 and the 2023-27 programming periods, act as a source of grants but also for loans, microcredit, guarantees and equities, available to recipients in agriculture and rural areas. Public and private productive investments, both on-farm and off-farm, and both for agri-food businesses and for non-agricultural enterprises, have been supported during 2014-22 and will be supported during 2023-27 in rural areas[1]. For both the public and private investments supported during 2014-22, the durability aim is to last five years of the final payment to the beneficiary or within the period of time set out in State aid rules, where applicable. Member States may reduce the time limit to three years in some cases for SMEs.

In 2022, The European Court of Auditors (ECA), examined whether investments aiming to diversify the rural economy and improve the rural infrastructure delivered durable benefits. They found that the legal durability requirements are largely met and three recommendations[2] were presented, which this workshop aimed to address involving the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI), Managing Authorities from Member States (MS), beneficiaries, evaluators, and numerous stakeholders in Brussels on the 14^th of December 2023 in a full day in person workshop.

The overall aim of the workshop was to exchange best practices among MS, particularly regarding the durability of public and private productive investments, and investments for non-agricultural enterprises in rural areas under the 2014-22 EAFRD, and to consider MS’s approach under the 2023-27 CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs). To enrich the debate, it was encouraged for participants to provide available information applicable at national level for these investments during the 2023-27 CSPs, although such requirements are not foreseen by the legal acts.

Specifically, the workshop based on the ECA recommendations aimed to:

1. Target better spending on viable projects,
2. Mitigate the risks of diversion of funded assets for personal use,
3. Identify relevant approaches and sources of information on assessment of the continued operation of EU funded projects.

The Workshop was open to stakeholders from all Member States, both those who have included specific durability conditions in their CSPs 2023-2027, and those who have not. The event was of particular interest to Managing Authorities, Paying Agencies, evaluators, and organisations representing members who make CAP-supported investments as well as National CAP Networks.

If you have any questions, please contact us at workshops.implementation2@eucapnetwork.eu.

[1] The foregoing includes private on-farm Annex-I related investments (named Investments in physical assets within the holdings during 2014-22) and the private Off-farm ones (Investments in physical assets for the transformation and commercialisation of Annex I products).

[2] Special report 12/2022: Durability in rural development