Commission adopts new CAP acts to reduce farming bureaucracy

The Commission approved nine new CAP acts to simplify rules, cut red tape and strengthen the competitiveness of the farming and agri-food sector.

The Commission adopted nine further acts under the CAP’s secondary legislation to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and regulatory burden, in line with its commitment to simplification and to strengthening the competitiveness of the farming sector and the wider agri-food value chain.

These changes will have a tangible impact for both farmers and national administrations. They will lead to fewer, more targeted and efficient controls and on-farm inspections. National administrations will also benefit from greater flexibility and lower costs, including by avoiding the need for sometimes expensive new IT systems.

What do these adopted changes involve?

In light of ongoing push by the Commission to further reduce control burden by favouring monitoring approach by using digital technologies, changes to the secondary legislation are being made. For the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) used to administer area- and animal-based CAP payments, the annual quality assessment of its digital elements, Geospatial Aid Application (GSA) and Area Monitoring System (AMS) have been further simplified to reduce workload for Member States and reduce field visits for farmers. Accordingly, the AMS and GSA quality assessment, from 2026, will cover only eligibility conditions that can actually be monitored remotely using mainly Copernicus satellite data. In addition, Member States can now bundle corrective action on LPIS, GSA and AMS. This not only simplifies EU-level rules but also greatly reduces the need for physical farm visits.
Farmers will no longer be required to record their use of plant protection products in the geospatial application (GSA) system.
The rules on how Member States scrutinize certain CAP-related transactions have been simplified, while placing greater importance on a comprehensive risk analysis covering all measures in the selection of undertakings for scrutiny.
Several changes reduce complexity for producer organizations, especially those operating across borders:
- approval of transnational producer organizations will now happen in the country where they are based, avoiding duplicate procedures;
- there will be fewer rigid rules on market withdrawals;
- simpler marketing standards for withdrawn products;
- easier rules for hemp cultivation, including fewer checks and more flexibility for new varieties.
Further flexibility has been provided to Member States in making amendments to their CAP strategic plans.
The annual performance report has also been simplified and will focus only on need-to-know data, reducing duplicity in reporting.