6th National Networks’ Meeting
The 6th Meeting of the National Networks, co-hosted by the Bulgarian National Network (NN), focused on the thematic work developed to support the CAP implementation at national and EU level.
- Programming period: 2023-2027
Page contents
Event information
- Date: 1-2 October 2025
- Location: Razlog, Bulgaria
- Organisers: CAP Implementation Contact Point
- Participants: 59 individuals from 23 Member States (MS) and the EU, including National Networks (NNs), Managing Authorities (MAs) and the European Commission.
- Outcomes:
- Current and planned activities undertaken by NNs in support of CAP implementation were identified, as well as common areas of work with the EU CAP Network and other EU-level initiatives.
- Potential areas of collaboration were agreed upon among NNs on common topics of interest.
- Discussions on how these areas of collaboration could continue within thematic clusters.
- In addition, follow-up actions were carried out on the Networking Hackathon initiatives led by NNs.
- Web page: EU CAP Network event - 6th National Networks Meeting
Introduction
The meeting featured a series of presentations and interactive exercises that explored the various topics currently being addressed by the NNs and the EU CAP Network and served as a basis for discussions on potential areas of collaboration among NNs.
In line with the main topic, NNs also discussed the future of thematic clusters and reviewed proposals emerging from the Networking Hackathon. Participants had the opportunity to visit CAP-funded projects in rural areas of Bulgaria, which illustrated the practical implementation of some themes discussed during the meeting.
Opening remarks
Dr Lozana Vasileva, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, opened the meeting and welcomed participants to Bulgaria. She highlighted the importance of the EU and NNs in addressing key challenges and creating space for dialogue and cooperation.
Hugo Almeida, Deputy-Head of Unit D1 ‘Rural areas and Networks’ – European Commission – DG AGRI, reaffirmed the commitment of the EU to a strong, targeted CAP under the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), supporting farmers, rural areas and climate action through simplified rules and reinforced networking. He highlighted the key role of NNs in thematic work, visibility and cooperation, encouraging continued dialogue, innovation and collaboration across Member States.
Thematic work of the EU CAP Network
The EU CAP Network conducted an interactive quiz reviewing its key activities undertaken since its establishment, which also enabled participants to learn about and revisit the main outcomes and resources produced. The areas of work covered included environmental issues, LEADER, innovation and AKIS, generational renewal, women in agriculture and CAP simplification. Relevant information and resources were also made available through a dedicated presentation.
Tommaso Codazzi (EU CAP Network) presented an overview of the 2025-2026 Annual Work Programme (AWP). Valdis Kudiņš (EU CAP Network) provided an update on the preparation of the AWP for evaluation-related topics starting in 2026. This process will be based on the collection of evaluation needs and topics and the subsequent presentation of a long list of priority areas to key stakeholders.
Some examples of EU CAP Network’s activities across the years – EU CAP Network
(PDF – 3.62 MB)
Thematic work of National Networks
Cristina Rascón and Dana Freshley (EU CAP Network) delivered a framing presentation on the thematic work of the NNs, focusing on their ongoing and planned thematic activities. Drawing on responses from a survey conducted by the EU CAP Network, all 28 NNs provided details about their priority topics, implementation approaches, consultation processes and stakeholder engagement strategies, among other aspects.
National Networks mapping: Thematic work 2025 – 2026 - Cristina Rascón and Dana Freshley, EU CAP Network
(PDF – 483.78 KB)
Key findings include:
- Priority themes for 2025-2026: The most common areas of work identified by NNs are LEADER and rural development (26 out of 28 NNs), EIP-AGRI and AKIS (23 NNs), agricultural topics (19 NNs), communication (18 NNs), and youth and generational renewal (16 NNs). Several specific examples of activities were also presented.
- Formats and consultation: NNs primarily use events and communication activities to address these topics, with 86% of them selecting priorities through stakeholder consultations.
- Stakeholder engagement: Farmers, advisory groups, researchers and small-scale farmers remain the most challenging groups to engage.
- Role and outlook: Nineteen NNs reported involvement in the design of National Regional Partnership (NRP) Plans, particularly in stakeholder engagement and communication. Key opportunities for the next period include a single fund for simpler processes and AKIS, while challenges relate to limited resources, LEADER implementation and maintaining stakeholder involvement. The NNs were also concerned about being left out in the process of designing the NRP Plans. They asked to be informed about negotiations and opportunities for involvement. On the one hand, the EU CAP Network, especially its governance meetings, will continue to provide updates on policy developments; on the other hand, NN were invited to be proactive and engage with national authorities.
The survey will feed into a comprehensive mapping report on NN structures, functioning and activities to be published in 2026.
NN representatives shared examples of their work (their presentations are available on the event page), which included:
- Latvia: Edgars Linde outlined how the Latvian NN supports the design of the next programming period (NRP Plans) through internal dialogues within the competent ministry to better understand the system and ensure broad stakeholder participation, including underrepresented voices. The aim is to identify system-wide actions, synergies and compromises.
- Portugal: Diogo Pires showcased activities related to EIP-AGRI and AKIS, including the launch event for Operational Groups (OGs), the development of the AKIS Portugal webpage and mobile platform, the creation of the AGRI-DEM Network for agricultural and forestry demonstrations on sustainable soil management, and initiatives such as the women farmer year event and podcast.
- Bulgaria: Stefan Spasov presented the Bulgarian NN’s work on LEADER, highlighting the implementation of eight cooperation projects during the previous programming period, of which several were developed through EU CAP Network connections. The NN’s role in supporting LEADER has grown, particularly since adopting a multi-funding approach in 2014-2022. Despite challenges posed by complex management structures, interest among stakeholders continues to rise, with 100 Local Action Groups (LAGs) now active (against 35 in the previous period), covering 85% of Bulgaria’s territory.
Defining the Main Focus of Latvia’s Position in the Context in Preparation for the New EU Programming Period - Edgars Linde, Edgars Linde, Latvian National Network
(PDF – 749.37 KB)
Portuguese NN’s activities on EIP-AGRI and AKIS - Diogo Pires, Portuguese NN
(PDF – 468.61 KB)
Community-led Local Development - Stefan Spasov, Ministry of Agriculture and Food
(PDF – 1020.45 KB)
Group work on CAP Implementation: Cooperatives of collaborations
Participants split into groups to exchange ideas on six topics of interest, identified prior to the meeting: support to NRP Plans; communications; rural youth and generational renewal; rural development and LEADER; EIP-AGRI and AKIS; and agricultural topics, local food and short supply chains.
The session enabled NNs to learn more about each other's activities and to explore opportunities for collaboration.
Thanks to this session, NNs identified 17 potential areas for collaborations, some of which are already set and open to new partners. The report-back session (on the second day) allowed participants to learn about the proposed collaborations and connect with those open to new partnerships.
Collaborations and ideas for collaborations include:
|
Support for NRP Plans |
|---|
| Informal working group on the elaboration of the next CAP – Continued informal discussions on this topic within a new thematic cluster |
|
Communications |
|
|---|---|
| Steps to prevent a disaster – A platform for NNs to exchange farm-level solutions with experts, including advisors, researchers, legislators, and farmers | Know your neighbour! – Peer-to-peer knowledge sharing to address common cross-border challenges through targeted activities |
|
Rural youth and generational renewal |
||
|---|---|---|
| Connecting youth in rural areas – Partnerships to map rural youth associations in their countries, share findings, and build a joint database | Small farmers: big dreams – Organisation of farm visits for schoolchildren to promote awareness of agriculture and local food | LEADER Cooperation event – Collaboration through a LEADER cooperation event in January 2026 in Spain to foster the exchange of good practices on youth engagement among NNs and new cooperation projects |
|
Rural development and LEADER |
|
|---|---|
| Next period: less money, more focus – Study trips between MS involving MAs, NNs and Paying Agencies to discuss legal and strategic aspects of keeping LEADER ‘alive’ | Silver economy – Identification of best practices related to careers for senior citizens to use their expertise locally. It could include cross-visits among NNs, a conference, a collection of good practices and identification of experts |
| Face-to-face workshops in Spain on transnational cooperation – Exchange of good practices among LAGs on cooperation projects | Information exchange on including youth in rural areas – A combination of workshops to identify relevant projects from national good practice databases |
|
EIP-AGRI and AKIS |
|
|---|---|
| Study visits between Slovakian and Czech NNs – To exchange good practices on AKIS, managing EIP projects and networking. It will include visits to demonstration farms | Coordination calls for transnational EIP-AGRI Operational Groups (OGs) - Online discussion about how to work among NNs and MAs of different MS on this topic |
| AKIS/EIP-AGRI OG thematic cluster – Online meeting for exchange on difficulties, best practices and solutions | Influencer exchange - Influencers will visit OGs in other MS and create videos about the innovative projects for their channels |
|
Agricultural topics, local food and short supply chains |
||
|---|---|---|
| Data management system – Knowledge sharing by the Maltese NN on the development of an AI-driven data platform | Connecting rural areas, farms and local food to urban people – Sharing good practices related to the organisation of fairs/open days | EU agroforestry network – Knowledge sharing on agroforestry to identify best practices in the EU through study visits to other MS, webinars or group discussions |
Field visits
On the first day, participants had the opportunity to visit several CAP-funded projects:
- Improving the social services system of the ‘CHANCE’ Association for people with disabilities (Measure 7.2 from 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme (RDP)).
- Production of innovative products from dried and deep-frozen organic fruits and vegetables to stimulate the local economy and promote sustainable production (Measure 4.2 from 2014-2020 RDP).
- Investments in forestry technologies and in the processing, mobilisation and marketing of forest products (Measure 8.6 from 2014-2020 RDP).
- Investments in guest house, horse stable and therapy for people with disabilities (Measure 312 from 2007-2013 RDP).
The event's format gave participants ample time to reflect on and exchange views about the projects they had visited.
Thematic clusters
Led by the NN representatives themselves, thematic clusters are self-managed groups that organise their own networking activities through online meetings and other exchanges focused on specific topics.
During this session, representatives from the existing thematic clusters provided brief updates on their ongoing work on:
- Communication, involvement of Pillar 1 stakeholders and dissemination of CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs);
- Rural youth and generational renewal;
- Regional antennas;
- CAP monitoring and evaluation; and
- Green architecture and eco-schemes.
Updates also included information on informal meetings among LEADER MAs.
Participants suggested additional topics to be tackled through thematic clusters: Support to NRP Plan design, EIP-AGRI and AKIS, Smart Villages and LEADER.
Session on thematic clusters - EU CAP Network
(PDF – 4.98 MB)
Follow-up on the Networking Hackathon
The 4th National Networks Meeting (Lithuania, September 2024) – in the form of a ‘Networking Hackathon' – had generated several creative proposals. Updates on three of them were presented and discussed in Razlog:
- Rural Ambassadors. Learning from Finland’s example to design strategic, inclusive campaigns, address procurement and budget challenges, this initiative aims to engage ambassadors to promote rural areas. This group of NNs is preparing practical guidelines to help identify and recruit influencers and plan a pilot initiative to be aligned potentially with ARIA's popular vote communication campaign.
- MAX Net. This initiative aims to harness the collective knowledge of NN by pairing the participants with questions with those who have solutions. Some NNs piloted the Padlet platform for knowledge exchange, with technical guidance from the EU CAP Network. Initial feedback was positive, though issues such as moderation, accessibility and integration with existing communication channels (e.g. Maxnet and email) are being reviewed.
- Evaluation BeeZZZZ. The initiative aims to develop practical tools to support NNs in CSP monitoring and evaluation, including a ‘living document’ of examples hosted on the Evaluation Learning Portal, highlighting NNs’ potential roles in monitoring committees, data collection, capacity building and dissemination of evaluation results.
Networking hackathon: Follow-up – joint presentation by James Claffey, Irish NN; Massimiliano Piattella, Italian NN; and Valdis Kudins, Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP / EU CAP Network
(PDF – 1.25 MB)
Closing remarks
Participants received updates from the EU CAP Network on ongoing and upcoming initiatives, including new tools for NNs on LEADER, ARIA 2025, the third edition of the workshop ‘Networking for innovation and knowledge exchange’, a workshop on assessment of generational renewal strategies across MS and a workshop on assessing digitalisation under the CSPs.
Giuliana Keller, from Unit D1 ‘Rural areas and Networks’ of the European Commission – DG AGRI, concluded by highlighting the event's significance. She underlined the value of learning from the thematic work of the NNs and the benefits of collaboration through interactive activities. She also emphasised the importance of open discussions and the lessons gained from networking and peer exchanges - such as NN thematic clusters, study visits and other ongoing activities that support CAP implementation. She closed the meeting by thanking all participants, organisers and colleagues for their engagement and looked forward to continued cooperation among networks.
Updates from the EU CAP Network, EU CAP Network
(PDF – 1.25 MB)
Author(s)
EU Cap Network
