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On May 18, 2017, the Earth-Source of Income Foundation team took part in a national public debate on the CAP’s post-2020 development. The meeting, which was part of the debates series CAP after 2020 \u2013 The Choice of Bulgaria, was organized by the Agro-Strategies and Innovation Institute and IntelliAgro, with the participation of the largest agricultural organization in the EU – Copa Cogeca.<\/span><\/p>\n \u0414The debate was opened by two ministers responsible for the agricultural sector in Bulgaria \u2013 Rumen Porozhanov and Ljiljana Pavlova. They congratulated the organizers Agro-Strategies and Innovation Institute and IntelliAgro for choosing this vital topic and the exact moment for raising it.<\/span><\/p>\n Representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture of Austria, the Netherlands, Estonia and Italy, as well as of the largest agricultural organization in the EU, Copa Cogeca, presented their opinions and the main pillars on which their proposals for CAP development after 2020 will be based. These presentations served as the basis for the ensuing intensive debate between the representatives of over 30 branch organizations, scientific and expert institutions and farmers present.<\/span><\/p>\n While discussing the future of the CAP and the need for a unified position on the topic, the representatives of the largest branch organizations in agriculture also deliberated the possibility of further uniting the agricultural sector. A large number of organizations shared a history of unsuccessful attempts in this direction. For this reason, an option for drafting a memorandum outlining the key points on which organizations share the same opinion was discussed. Such a Memorandum would allow both joint work on the establishment of a single opinion of the sector for the CAP after 2020 and also the preservation of the identity and independence of each organization.<\/span><\/p>\n The opinion of the Land Source of Income Foundation for CAP 2020+ was that, apart from changes in the CAP itself, which our country could hardly have a significant impact on, we should think about how we apply this CAP in our country. The same regulations in most European countries lead to a positive development of rural areas while in Bulgaria there is a negative trend. According to the Earth Source of Income Foundation team, the misallocation of funds at national level, coupled with an unfavorable institutional environment for small businesses in general, are the causes for such negative outcomes. It is necessary, during the new programming period – within the Community permitted limits – to pay close attention to small and medium-sized family farms because they are the main driver of the successful and sustainable socio-economic development of Bulgaria’s rural areas. Since Community policy only provides the framework for supporting rural areas, such support for SMFarms is fully and realistically possible, however, it requires a strong political will for change at the national level.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t