No. 34 The future of the Common Agricultural Policy 80 ANALYSIS AND PROSPECTIVE STUDIES CULTIVAR In fact, while the MFF Regulation sets out the multiannual financial framework for the period 20282034, reflecting the Union's political ambition to achieve its priorities, the 'Fund' regulates the use of part of this budget, bringing together the current structural and cohesion funds (ERDF – European Regional Development Fund, ESF+ – European Social Fund Plus, CF – Cohesion Fund, JTF – Just Transition Fund), the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) and the agricultural funds (current EAFRD – European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and EAGF – European Agricultural Guarantee Fund), allocating only one financial envelope to the CAP, without distinguishing between the first and second pillars of this policy. In a highly unstable geopolitical context where food security is fundamental, this ‘Fund’ places the CAP under the specific objective of ‘Quality of life’, a significant sign of its reduced importance, and provides for the presentation of a Single Plan per Member State1 covering various areas, such as those related to cohesion, migration and security, fisheries and agriculture. This requirement, combined with a slow, disjointed and bureaucratic administration, makes not only this planning but also its implementation an almost impossible task. Furthermore, although the ‘Fund’ covers multiple areas, it also includes a series of articles relating to agricultural issues, such as certain definitions, for example of agricultural area or activity. Under the guise of guaranteeing stability and predictability of farmers' incomes, it regulates the specific budget allocated to the CAP, which, upon closer inspection, is ultimately only intended for some of the interventions that have always been included in this policy and with a significantly lower amount than the current framework. On the other hand, there is also the CAP Regulation, which provides for different interventions in the agricultural sector, regardless of whether they are covered by the specific allocation established for the CAP included in the 'Fund', with some matters being addressed in both the CAP Regulation and the 'Fund' and others, such as the bioeconomy or irrigation, not even being mentioned in either Regulation. If we analyse the sectoral interventions in beekeeping, fruit and vegetables and wine, the CMO Regulation inevitably has to be added to this regulatory puzzle. Added to this picture is the EAFRD Regulation, which is presented as an additional source of funding for agriculture, particularly for irrigation, but which raises many questions and currently offers no guarantees of implementation, since it is a fund managed centrally by the Commission and not shared by the Member States. In view of the above, the legislative tangle and the difficulty of analysing and understanding the rules proposed for the 2028-2034 programming period are clear. This difficulty is shared by the Administration, which has also expressed great difficulty in providing the necessary clarifications. Taking irrigation as an example, which is omitted from the interventions listed as being part of the CAP, the way in which its financing will be guaranteed remains to be clarified. For all these reasons, it is very difficult to understand what the Commission intends and to guarantee, on the basis of the proposed regulations, a good CAP within the 2028-2034 MFF. 2. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) The 'Fund', with an allocation of around €865 billion, earmarking around €782 billion to the Single Plans, provides for a CAP ring-fencing of €293.7 billion, which, however, is only intended for certain agricultural interventions, with the financing of 1 National and Regional Partnership Plan for the Fund (NRPP)
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