The CAP Strategic Plan is a document that determines, at national level, how European funds for agriculture, the food industry and rural development are used in Slovakia in the given programming period. It merges two previously separate pillars: direct payments for area and livestock, including eco-schemes, and project-based investment measures aimed at farm modernisation, processing of production, young farmers, agroforestry, and basic municipal infrastructure. Direct payments are claimed annually in a single application, while project-based measures compete in calls. Administration is handled by the paying agency, which also carries out on-the-spot checks and remote sensing surveys. Conditionality of support on compliance with environmental and economic standards is among the most common reasons for reductions. It therefore pays applicants to follow the agency's methodological guidelines as closely as the calls themselves, since it is these guidelines that determine how the conditions are interpreted.
See also: Agricultural Paying Agency, Grants for Farmers, On-the-spot check.
