FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS PROMOTED THROUGH COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY TO INCREASE COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY OF AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023 - 2027 is currently the main instrument of the member states for the development of the agricultural sector and rural areas. CAP is focused on ten key objectives related to social, environmental and economic goals. EU agricultural policy covers all levels covers all levels of agri-food supply chain. The Romania CAP Strategic Plan was approved by the European Commission in December 2022 with a total allocation of 15.83 billions � (14,96 billions � from EU budget and 0,86 billion � national funding). The main type of interventions for direct payments to farmers promoted by Romanian Strategic Plan are: basic income support for sustainability, complementary redistributive income support for sustainability, complementary income support for young farmers, environmentally friendly practices applicable to arable land, practicing environmentally friendly agriculture in small farms (traditional households). These financial instruments are supported through the European agricultural guarantee fund (EAGF). According to the Romanian Payments and Intervention Agency for Agriculture, for the 2023 campaign, a number of 759,976 payment requests were submitted for an area of over 9.98 million hectares. European environmental and agricultural policies play a key role to increase competitiveness and sustainability of agricultural systems. Even if the agricultural policy instruments and strategic plans contribute to the development of the agricultural sector, there is still a need for simplification, diversification and specific measures depending on the particularities of the agribusiness field.