Document type: Report published by the French Ministry of Agriculture, Agri-Food, and Food Sovereignty
Author: EY
Preview: Within the framework of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Ministry of Agriculture, Agri-food and Food Sovereignty (MAAFS) commissioned an evaluation of the impact of the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) on animal welfare in France. […] This evaluation was conducted from a thematic perspective focusing on animal welfare and covers the years 2023 and 2024, corresponding to the first two effective years of programme implementation. The evaluation work makes it possible to analyse the contribution of CAP interventions to animal welfare, as well as their coherence and complementarity with other relevant measures. The evaluation was carried out over a 12-month period (January 2025–January 2026) and structured into three phases: the scoping phase (January–March 2025), the data collection and analysis phase (April– September 2025), and the finalisation and recommendations phase (October 2025–January 2026).[…]
Recommendation 1: Ensure territorial equity in access to animal-welfare measures, taking account of regional specificities
Implementation actions: ► Improve existing coordination between regions to make animal welfare a cross-cutting objective of agricultural policy: strengthen regular State–Region dialogue and establish shared milestones, so that animal welfare is systematically integrated into the design, targeting and evaluation of all agricultural schemes; ► Appoint a national animal-welfare focal point, responsible for ensuring coordination between regions and guaranteeing coherent and equitable implementation of schemes across the entire territory; ► Launch a co-construction process with under-represented sectors to adapt and calibrate animal-welfare schemes (investments, animal-welfare AECMs) to the specific characteristics of monogastric and rabbit sectors.[…]
Recommendation 2: Improve and strengthen training and support
Implementation actions: Develop a modular animal welfare training offer by sector, combining on-farm practical sessions, peer-to-peer experience sharing and short “animal welfare essentials” modules; ► Assess the effectiveness of training and support through systematic participant feedback and simple indicators of practice uptake; ► Develop a specific training offer dedicated to the preparation of support applications for measures directly targeted at animal welfare; ► Map public and private good practices related to animal welfare [...]
Recommendation 3: Strengthen existing indicators for the 2028 Programming Period by introducing indicators based on animal welfare, following the Welfare Quality methodology
Implementation actions: ► Extend the scope of indicator R.44, or any other animal-welfare-related indicator, to all sectors, using a Member State-level consolidation method (for example, including monogastric sectors); ► Conduct EU-level animal welfare studies based on the Welfare Quality® methodology, which relies on physiological, health and behavioural characteristics to assess animal welfare at farm level; ► Publish results annually and organise a European review process to adjust schemes accordingly. […]
Recommendation 4: Strengthen, for the 2028 programming period, the incentive effect and targeting of animal-welfare support through an adaptation of eligibility criteria
Implementation actions: ► Recalibrate schemes to strengthen their incentive effect (rates / budgets): - Re-examine the allocation of funding within AECMs to increase the share dedicated to measures that most directly contribute to animal welfare, for example by reassessing the relative weight of the forage self-sufficiency AECM, while maintaining consistency with the objectives pursued by existing AECMs; - Reassess area-based compensation levels for animal-welfare AECMs targeting monogastric sectors. ► Remove access barriers and strengthen the leverage effect of on-farm animal-welfare investments: - Differentiate aid ceilings and eligibility thresholds for on-farm investments that directly improve animal welfare; - Adjust eligibility parameters by sector and production system type, taking into account technical and sanitary constraints as well as farm size. ► Update sector-specific guidance documents and application notes to clarify eligibility criteria, secure administrative processing and make expected levels of cimmitment explicit.
