European Commission approves Latvia's CAP strategic plan 2023-2027

  • 2022-11-14
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - European Commission on November 11 approved Latvia's draft Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) strategic plan for 2023-2027, LETA was told at the Agriculture Ministry. 

The plan provides for investing EUR 2.5 billion in the Latvian agriculture sector and rural development over the next five years. Of this amount, EUR 1.7 billion will be disbursed as direct payments, EUR 791 million have been earmarked for rural development activities, and EUR 10 million have been allocated in general market organization support. 

The Agriculture Ministry informs that around 48 percent of the financing earmarked in the plan will be invested in environment and climate related projects, promoting environmentally and climate friendly farming practices in the framework of new ecosystems, addressing agri-environmental issues and making investments in the environment. 

From 2023, Latvia will implement an income reallocation in favor of small and medium-sized farmers, by introducing a redistributive payment, which means that additional support will be provided to farmers for the first 3.1 to 100 hectares. 

At the same time, the maximum size of annual income support will be capped at EUR 100,000 per recipient. In regions bordering with Russia and Belarus, as well as in regions with specific conditions farmers will receive EUR 10 more per hectare than in other regions of Latvia. 

In 2023, direct payments will only be allocated to farmers involved in agricultural activity and meeting at least one of the seven active farming criteria. 

As reported, EU funding for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) allocated for Latvia is EUR 3.324 billion or by EUR 637 million or 24 percent more than in the previous planning period for 2014-2020, according to the informative report on Latvia's CAP strategic plan for 2023-2027 presented to the government by the Agricultural Ministry.

The policy planning document combines three support instruments - direct payments, sectoral interventions in such sectors as fruit, vegetables, apiculture and others, and rural development support measures. The ministry says that this will allow to use different support instruments in a coordinated way.

The support instruments including in the CAP strategic plan will be financed from the European Agriculture Guarantee Fund and the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development.