agriregionieuropa.univpm.it（89页）.docVIP

TABLE OF CONTENTS Agriculture and rural development 3 Citizens 7 Civil Protection 9 Climate Action 12 Competitiveness and SMEs 17 Customs Union and Taxation 21 Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion 24 Education and Culture 28 Employment and Social Affairs 32 Environment 37 External Action 42 Fight against Fraud 47 Health and Consumers 49 Home Affairs 52 Infrastructure – Connecting Europe Facility 55 Innovative Financial Instruments 75 Justice 78 Maritime and Fisheries Policy 80 Research and Innovation 83 Administration 87 Agriculture and Rural Development Policy Objectives Agriculture and forests cover the vast majority of our territory and play a key role in the health of rural economies and the rural landscape. Farmers perform many different functions ranging from the production of food and non-food agricultural products, to countryside management, nature conservation, and tourism. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is designed to deliver a modern, sustainable and efficient agricultural sector in Europe. It aims to promote the competitiveness of the sector, to ensure an adequate and secure food supply and to preserve the environment and countryside while providing a fair standard of living for the agricultural community. The CAP is a genuinely European policy. Instead of operating 27 separate agriculture policies and budgets, Member States pool resources to operate a single European policy with a single European budget. This naturally means that the CAP accounts for a significant proportion of the EU budget. However, this approach is both more efficient and economical than an uncoordinated national approach. Today, European agriculture faces a variety of challenges. In recent years, agriculture prices have risen by 50%, but energy and fertiliser prices have risen by 200% and 150%, respectively. The result has been a steep long-term decline in agricultural income. The sector must also respond to the challenges of climate change and environmental degradatio