The Agriculture Ministry has launched a public consultation to set Cyprus’s priorities under the EU’s new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2028 to 2034, asking farmers and livestock breeders to say what the sector needs.
Under the European Commission’s proposal, Cyprus’s national plan for the period would total about 2.3 billion euros. Of that, a minimum of 415.9 million euros would be reserved exclusively for farm income support and the CAP. Under the current CAP Strategic Plan for 2023 to 2027, the equivalent EU funding was 373 million euros over five years.
Cyprus can also direct more money from the rest of the national plan to farming measures, investment, generational renewal, risk management, the environment, the climate and rural areas, depending on documented needs. Cyprus secured a provision under which at least 10 per cent of the plan’s resources, beyond the guaranteed CAP amount, must go to projects and measures in rural areas.
The first public consultation was held on Thursday at the Environmental Information Centre of Mountainous Larnaca in Skarinou. It was attended by Agriculture Minister Christos Senekis, Commissioner of Agricultural Payments Andreas Kyprianou and Penelope Papavasiliou, director-general of the Directorate-General for Development.
Senekis referred to negotiations held during Cyprus’s presidency of the Council of the EU. The Commission’s original proposal would have excluded farmers who reach retirement age from direct payments. Cyprus led the talks that removed the provision entirely from the text, recognising that it would hit the island hard because many older people remain active in production, it was said.
Changes in the new period
The biggest institutional change for 2028 to 2034 is that the CAP will no longer be implemented through a separate strategic plan. Instead, it will be part of a single, wider National and Regional Partnership Plan for the Republic of Cyprus.
The new framework is meant to increase synergies with other EU policies, such as Cohesion Policy and Fisheries Policy, and links the release of funds directly to meeting specific targets and results. With negotiations in Brussels still under way, the consultation aims to record the real needs of the Cypriot countryside in good time so that national priorities can be set accordingly.
Cypriot farming faces challenges including high production costs, prolonged water shortages, climate change, the need for generational renewal and the pressing need for less bureaucracy.
How to take part
The Department of Agriculture has issued a questionnaire, also available online. It asks producers about the main challenges facing Cypriot farming in 2028 to 2034, which sectors should be prioritised, which criterion should carry most weight in targeting support, which investments matter most for competitiveness, which measures would best attract young farmers and where CAP procedures most need simplifying. Participants can also suggest new measures and improvements to existing ones in free text.
This first phase of the consultation runs until the end of November 2026, during which written submissions can be made to the Department of Agriculture. A further round of consultation will follow in 2027 on the completed draft of the CAP chapter.
The Cabinet approved a scheme on April 29, 2026, to make it easier for farmers to get loans for investments. It will be implemented soon.
