A new Thematic Report for the assessment of sectoral support
- Evaluation
- Agricultural Productivity
- CAP Strategic Plans
- Evaluation
- Evaluation Processes
- Food Supply Chain
Researchers, evaluators and experts from Managing Authorities explored effective approaches in a dedicated Thematic Working Group.
All EU Member States implement sectoral support as part of their CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs), but they do so in different ways, targeting specific sectors, including fruit and vegetable production, the wine sector, and beekeeping. The CAP Strategic Plan Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 provides the flexibility to design sectoral support to address a broad range of objectives. Among these, economic priorities—such as risk management, competitiveness, and strengthening farmers’ positions in the food chain—are the most targeted.
To support the Member States’ efforts, the EU CAP Network, with the assistance of the European Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP, ran a Thematic Working Group in 2024. This group brought together researchers, evaluators, and Managing Authorities to explore effective methods for evaluating sectoral support. Their work resulted in a comprehensive Thematic Report, “Assessment of sectoral support within the CAP,” which serves as a valuable resource for Member States and evaluators conducting CSP evaluations.
Although there is no mandatory requirement to evaluate sectoral support independently, understanding the impact of sectoral support is vital for assessing how well the CAP achieves its broader objectives. Some Member States may choose to conduct evaluations dedicated solely to sectoral support, while others incorporate sectoral support within wider assessments of CAP effectiveness.
The Thematic Report offers practical guidance and inspiration on defining the scope of an evaluation including, or solely focused on, sectoral support. Rather than providing prescriptive guidelines, the Thematic Report offers inspiration, allowing readers to select elements most relevant to their evaluation needs. It presents ideas for assessing sectoral support’s effectiveness, as well as insights into its relevance, efficiency, and coherence. In particular, the report focuses on evaluating sectoral support in relation to key CAP objectives, including: Risk management (SO1), Competitiveness (SO2), Farmers’ position in the food chain (SO3), Environmental and climate objectives (SO4/5/6), and Knowledge and innovation (Cross-Cutting Objective - CCO).
For each of these areas, the report explains why and how sectoral support may contribute, and offers ideas for evaluation frameworks that outline key questions, success factors, indicators, and relevant data sources. These frameworks are detailed in the Evaluation Question fiches (Annex 1), while Annex 4 provides a comprehensive literature review to support further research and planning. Evaluators and managing authorities can use the evaluation frameworks in a ‘pick and choose’ manner, according to their needs.
Example of Evaluation Framework for Specific Objective 1 Evaluation Question 1, Factor of Success (FoS) 1 and relevant indicators
Text version
The table shows an example of the Evaluation Framework for Specific Objective 1, including the Evaluation Question: ''To what extent has sectoral support strengthened the farms' resilience to risk and ensured effective crises prevention and management?'' and including the Factor of success 1: Farm's resilience has improved due to the sectoral support.
In the first row in green, there are indicators that have foremost been proposed on the basis of the data already required to be collected by Member States through the Performance and Monitoring Evaluation Framework (PMEF), including data for monitoring and evaluation (DME). In the other rows in purple, there are data to collect on the field, while the row in green shows data to be collect via the Managing Authorities.
Carina Folkeson, Evaluation Manager at the European Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP and coordinator of the Thematic Report, further elaborates:
“The report provides input for the design and data collection of any evaluation where sectoral support is within the scope. Readers are not required to go through the entire report, as it is structured to allow for a ‘pick-and-choose’ approach, depending on the evaluation objectives and the needs of the evaluator.”
By offering a structured yet flexible approach, the Thematic Report equips Managing Authorities and evaluators with the tools necessary to assess sectoral support effectively. Whether used for standalone evaluations or as part of broader CAP assessment, the report provides essential insights allowing to enhance understanding and improve the effectiveness of sectoral support in European agriculture.
