Reforming the CAP—Economic & Sustainable Transformation

4 November, 2025

Date: November 4, 2025
Time: 16:00 – 17:30
Location: European Parliament

Hosted by MEP Herbert Dorfmann and coco-host by MEP Juan Ignacio Zoido, organised in conjunction with : ELO – European Landowners’ Organization and FACE – European Federation for Hunting and Conservation. This event is by invitation only. Should you wish to express your interest, please contact Delphine Dupeux.

16:00 – 16:15 | Opening Remarks
MEP Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, AGRI Committee) MEP Juan Ignacio Zoido (EPP, Agri Committee & President of Biodiversity, Hunting,Countryside)

16:15– 16:30 | Keynote: Christophe Hansen – Commissioner for agriculture or Statement from the European Commission (DG AGRI)

16:30 – 16:50 | Panel Discussion:
Reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) requires balancing economic sustainability with environmental ambition. Farmers face rising input costs, administrative burdens, and pressure to remain competitive. Key challenges also include improving farm profitability, risk management, digitalisation, and generational renewal. The new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) introduces the concept of National and Regional Partnership Plans, aiming to integrate CAP and cohesion policy funding under a single programming approach.

While this could provide Member States with a broader toolkit and greater flexibility for addressing rural and agricultural needs, it marks a significant shift from the current CAP structure and has sparked concerns among farmers, rural communities, and policymakers. Many fear that merging these funds and potentially eliminating the CAP’s rural development pillar could dilute the focus on agriculture, threaten planning stability, and weaken the targeted support for rural development and agro environmental initiatives. Additionally, budgetary pressures and possible reductions to direct payments risk impacting farm viability and overall sector competitiveness. In this evolving policy landscape, the meeting aims at assessing how to keep CAP effective and future ready.

Speakers:

MEPs Benoît Cassart (Renew), Dario Nardella, MEP S&D
Eric Thirouin, President of AGPB
Birdlife/Agro ecology -Environmental NGO
Tassos Haniotis, Special Advisor on Sustainable Productivity, forumforAg / Senior Guest Research Scholar, IIASA
Alan Matthews, Professor at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

16:50 – 17:30 | Questions & Answers

17:30| Forward-Looking Debate & Closing by the Conference Chair