Authors: Raquel Pastor Carretero and Miranda García Lera (AEIDL)
On 19 February 2025, the European Commission presented its Vision for Agriculture and Food, a strategic roadmap outlining priorities for the EU agri-food sector up to 2040. This initiative aims to strengthen the competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience of the European agri-food system while addressing key challenges such as climate change, food security, and generational renewal.
To achieve this, the Vision sets out several objectives: to foster an attractive, innovative, and competitive sector; to promote sustainable practices that protect natural resources; to value both food and the people who produce it; and to reconnect with the land and traditions. The roadmap also emphasises the importance of innovation and a stronger results-based approach in agricultural policy.
In this context, the Horizon Europe project Tools4CAP, which aims to support the design and monitoring of national CAP Strategic Plans (2023 – 2027), has taken the opportunity to reflect on the Vision and explore how its activities align with this strategic direction. As part of this reflection, an internal survey was shared with project partners to gather their insights and explore how the project’s work can better respond to the evolving policy landscape over the next two years.
Flexible tools for robust CAP Strategic Plans
One of the most valued aspects, according to project partners, was the flexibility of the tools identified and analysed within Tools4CAP. Overall, these tools are perceived as highly adaptable and versatile, capable of responding to future challenges and aligning with the Vision both in the medium and long term. “Tools4CAP’s philosophy relies on a bottom-up approach, so its toolset is very plastic in terms of versatility and accommodates easily to new challenges,” highlighted Zsolt Szabo from the AKI Institute of Agricultural Economy. Ilona Rac from the University of Ljubljana, who also leads the Tools4CAP Replication Lab, emphasised that “the tools are mostly not conceptually tied to any specific policy,” making them relevant beyond the current CAP programming cycle.
NEUROPUBLIC, leading the integration and interoperability of new data, technology and digitalisation, pointed out the value of modular methodologies using Unified Modelling Language (UML) sequence diagrams to integrate spatiotemporal farm and external data, which to a great extent are adaptable to the Vision’s priorities. While these methodologies are primarily aimed at technical audiences, NEUROPUBLIC agrees that they address key elements mentioned in the Vision, “such as interoperability, data governance, and spatial approaches, all of which are important for CAP monitoring and overall simplification”.
Partners also noted certain limitations, especially concerning the integration of social aspects and the modelling of biodiversity. In this regard, the tools were considered less robust in simulating specific farm management practices and predicting uptake.
Following these considerations, Emil Erjavec from University of Ljubljana highlights that “the bigger question is whether Vision puts enough emphasis on the use of tools and on an evidence-based approach in general. My opinion is that it does not do enough”. This underscores a key concern: the need to move beyond the mere identification of technical resources for the design, planning, implementation and monitoring of policies. It is equally important to ensure their real incorporation into decision-making processes and their practical application.
Are adjustments needed in Tools4CAP?
While some project partners believe no major adjustments are required, others stress the need to improve engagement with end users, particularly managing authorities and policymakers in Member States. One response was especially clear on this point: “We need to better understand what truly interests government officials and motivate them to see that these tools are useful for improved implementation of the Strategic Plans, which are clearly here to stay” (Emil Erjavec, University of Ljubljana).
From a more technical perspective, it was suggested that some tools, such as those included under the screening and development of innovative quantitative tools, may require minor adjustments or could be complemented with additional indicators. One proposal mentioned the possibility of establishing a stronger connection with the Agri Sustainability Compass, as a benchmarking mechanism of indicators. Additionally, incorporating more farmer participatory mechanisms, even on a voluntary basis, into data integration workflows was seen as a promising direction (NEUROPUBLIC).
Proposals to strengthen the impact
As the project enters its final phase, ending in December 2026, partners proposed various initiatives to enhance visibility and collaboration between researchers and policymakers. Suggestions included showcasing good practices in science and policy cooperation, reinforcing mechanisms that facilitate coordination between farms and public administrations to ensure policy coherence from design to implementation, and incorporating the principles of the Vision into stakeholder engagement activities within the case studies.
In addition, one partner pointed out the importance of understanding why resistance persists towards high-quality cooperation and the use of tools in designing, implementing and monitoring Strategic Plans.
Contributions from Tools4CAP
The survey also asked which specific actions from the European Commission ‘s Vision to which Tools4CAP could most meaningfully contribute. This initial question opened a space for diverse perspectives, ranging from pragmatic concerns about the scope of the project, to strong confidence in the tools’ capacity to support future policy.
While some partners expressed a more cautious view; others highlighted that the tools and models identified under Tools4CAP are already well positioned to support many of the Vision’s priorities, especially those related to anticipating and responding to the challenges faced by farmers, including climate change, evolving policy frameworks and societal expectations.
There was also a shared sense that the tools promoted by the project have strong potential to support policy action, particularly when aligned with current CAP objectives and national or regional priorities.
“While modelling has its limitations, it remains a valuable method for addressing some of the most complex issues ahead.”
Lastly, when asked to summarise Tools4CAP’s potential contribute to the European Vision for Agriculture and Food, responses revealed both a diversity of approaches and a strong alignment with the Vision’s principles:
- “Stimulating the debate on long-term commitments between policy objectives.”
- “A tailored menu, with customised solutions for policy planning.”
- “With respect to the quantitative tools, they could help provide ex-ante scenario analysis, offering estimates at the Member State level as well as for the EU’s collective effort.”
- “Tools that support the inclusion of diverse stakeholders in decision-making.”
- “Enabling spatiotemporal data-driven CAP monitoring.”
- “We simply do what we’ve defined: better policy, in line with the Vision.”
- “The applied tools in TOOLS4CAP demonstrate the role that tools can play in supporting policy decision-making.”
The results of this survey, together with the work carried out within the Tools4CAP project, reinforce one of the project’s core messages: the importance of promoting an evidence-based culture as a key element in addressing complex challenges such as climate change, agricultural price volatility, and the agroecological transition.
Tools4CAP will continue to work on the integration and interoperability of new data, technology, and digitalisation to provide policymakers and administrations with the methodological and operational knowledge needed to track progress toward sustainability targets, facilitate compliance, and inform sound recalibration of policy interventions to ensure the delivery of required policy outcomes. The project has already released reports on integrating farm-level data for CAP monitoring and evaluation, as well as on challenges and approaches for landscape monitoring.