Report - 1st meeting of the CAP Strategic Plans Subgroup

The Subgroup’s focus is thematic work regarding the CAP Strategic Plans implementation. 

As a critical mass for CSPs expertise, the Subgroup will help network national issues, ideas, experiences, and knowledge, with aims to work together to aid CSPs implementation. DG AGRI’s role in the Subgroup will centre on supporting members by providing information, identifying capacity building needs, sharing good practices, and facilitating knowledge transfer. This Subgroup’s meeting agenda had objectives to: provide an overview on CSPs; present the governance structure and explain the role of the Subgroup; provide an update on relevant activities of the EU CAP Network linked to CSPs implementation; explore and discuss the future activities of the Subgroup; and explore and discuss networking activities for the exchange of knowledge and good practices in the implementation of the CSPs.

A summary of the meeting’s working groups told how the first interactive session provided valuable insights into the topics and approaches. It highlighted the need for collaboration, information sharing, and effective communication to drive meaningful discussions and progress within the Subgroup. The second session highlighted the importance of open communication, knowledge exchange, and collaboration with relevant stakeholders in order to address the identified topics effectively.

CSPs Subgroup discussions proposed alternative options for meeting arrangements and suggested possibilities for informal networking in-between meetings. This can include participation in the EU CAP Network’s thematic work, e.g. the new Thematic Group for Ecoschemes planned in Autumn 2023. The EU CAP Network’s multilingual website was also highlighted for its possibility as a platform for sharing information about CSPs implementation. CSPs Subgroup members were asked to help provide good practice cases featuring CAP-funded projects and/or CAP implementation processes that can be shared by the CAPI CP. More advance notice for future meetings of the Subgroup was requested.