Opinion 12/2025 on the Proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 and Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, in particular as regards data and interoperability governance

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The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) is an independent institution of the EU, responsible under Article 52(2) of Regulation 2018/1725 ‘With respect to the processing of personal data… for ensuring that the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, and in particular their right to data protection, are respected by Union institutions and bodies’, and under Article 52(3)‘… for advising Union institutions and bodies and data subjects on all matters concerning the processing of personal data’.

Wojciech Rafał Wiewiórowski was appointed as Supervisor on 5 December 2019 for a term of five years. Under Article 42(1) of Regulation 2018/1725, the Commission shall ‘following the adoption of proposals for a legislative act, of recommendations or of proposals to the Council pursuant to Article 218 TFEU or when preparing delegated acts or implementing acts, consult the EDPS where there is an impact on the protection of individuals’ rights and freedoms with regard to the processing of personal data’.

This Opinion relates to the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 as regards the conditionality system, types of intervention in the form of direct payment, types of intervention in certain sectors and rural development and annual performance reports and Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 as regards data and interoperability governance, suspensions of payments annual performance clearance and controls and penalties . This Opinion does not preclude any future additional comments or recommendations by the EDPS, in particular if further issues are identified or new information becomes available. Furthermore, this Opinion is without prejudice to any future action that may be taken by the EDPS in the exercise of his powers pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. This Opinion is limited to the provisions of the Proposal that are relevant from a data protection perspective.

Executive Summary

On 14 May 2025, the European Commission issued a Proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 as regards the conditionality system, types of intervention in the form of direct payment, types of intervention in certain sectors and rural development and annual performance reports and Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 as regards data and interoperability governance, suspensions of payments annual performance clearance and controls and penalties (‘the Proposal’).

The general objective of the Proposal is to simplify legislation and implementation of Common Agricultural Policy (‘CAP’) Strategic Plans, contributing to administrative burden reduction and the increase of competitiveness. The Proposal introduces an obligation for each Member State to designate one authority responsible for taking or coordinating actions to achieve and maintain national and cross-border interoperability between information systems used for the implementation, administration, monitoring and evaluation of the CAP for the benefit of farmers and other CAP beneficiaries. The designated authority would also be responsible for drawing up and implementing a roadmap containing measures and actions.

The EDPS acknowledges the benefits that can be derived from increased interoperability in the public agriculture sector and welcomes the efforts undertaken by the Commission to organize the process towards this goal. At the same time, the EDPS recalls that when personal data need to be exchanged between public bodies, then these bodies must comply with all applicable legislation, including data protection law.

Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 already contains specific provisions on processing and protection of personal data, with reference to both the GDPR and EUDPR. The EDPS also understands that the Proposal would not introduce any new processing of personal data, nor would it affect the objectives and the purposes of the processing that already exists.

Given the subject matter and the provisions of the Proposal, which do not raise specific issues having regard to the protection of personal data, the EDPS does not have specific comments or recommendations on the Proposal.

Contents

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THE EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION SUPERVISOR,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (‘EUDPR’) , and in particular Article 42(1) thereof,

HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION:

1. Introduction

1. On 14 May 2025, the European Commission issued a Proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 as regards the conditionality system, types of intervention in the form of direct payment, types of intervention in certain sectors and rural development and annual performance reports and Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 as regards data and interoperability governance, suspensions of payments annual performance clearance and controls and penalties (‘the Proposal’).

2. Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 establishes rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the Common Agricultural Policy (‘CAP’) Strategic Plans and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (‘EAGF’) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (‘EAFRD’). Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 establishes rules on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy .

3. The general objective of the Proposal is to simplify legislation and implementation of CAP Strategic Plans, contributing to administrative burden reduction and the increase of competitiveness. The Proposal aims to address the objective as follows : - on-farm simplification and streamlining of requirements to better adjust to different situations and to a variety of farming practices; - streamlining support for smaller and medium-sized farms by encouraging Member States and farmers to make greater use of simplified payments; - boosting competitiveness; - giving greater flexibility to Member States for the management of CAP Strategic Plans.

4. The need for action in the field was recognised and concrete action was announced in several Commission communications, among them the Communication ‘A Competitiveness Compass for the EU’ , the Communication ‘Simpler and Faster Europe: Communication on implementation and simplification’ , and the Communication ‘A Vision for Agriculture and Food’ .

5. The present Opinion of the EDPS is issued in response to a consultation by the European Commission of 15 May 2025, pursuant to Article 42(1) of EUDPR. The EDPS welcomes the reference to this consultation in Recital 81 of the Proposal.

2. General remarks

6. According to the Proposal, enhancing interoperability, including seamless exchange of data, between public agricultural information systems offers a range of operational, statistical, and policy-related benefits, such as reduced data collection burden and improved efficiency, automated data integration and validation, improved data accuracy and reliability, enhanced policy monitoring and more effective collaboration within Member States. However, the absence of a coordinated structure at Member State level, as well as the differences observed in the progress of digital transition among Member States inhibit the effective implementation of interoperability and its benefits .

7. In line with the Commission Communication ‘A Vision for Agriculture and Food’, which underlines the ‘collect once, use multiple times’ principle, Member States should ensure that data is collected only once by the authorities responsible for the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the CAP and re-used, without asking the farmers several times to provide the same data .

8. Article 2(4) of the Proposal would introduce a new Chapter III on CAP data and interoperability governance in Title II of the Regulation (EU) 2021/2116. According to Article 13a(1) of this new Chapter, each Member State should designate one authority responsible for taking or coordinating actions to achieve and maintain national and cross-border interoperability between information systems used for the implementation, administration, monitoring and evaluation of the CAP for the benefit of farmers and other CAP beneficiaries.

9. In order to achieve and maintain interoperability between information systems used for the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the CAP, and in consideration of the European Strategy of Data and other relevant EU and national initiatives, such as the Common European Agricultural Data Space and the Interoperable Europe Act , the designated authority would be responsible for drawing up and implementing a roadmap containing measures and actions . That Roadmap should contain, among others, an assessment of the current state of interoperability, as well as assessment of digital identification systems and data sharing mechanisms currently used. To the extent possible, Member States should base their assessment of needs and the design of the measures on the principle that data is collected only once and re-used .

10. The EDPS acknowledges the benefits that can be derived from increased interoperability in the public agriculture sector and welcomes the efforts undertaken by the Commission to organize the process towards this goal. At the same time, the EDPS also recalls that national and cross-border interoperability between information systems affects one of the most fundamental principles of data protection, the principle of purpose limitation. It is therefore crucial that the risks that are being created by removing barriers to information exchange are appropriately considered .

11. When personal data need to be exchanged between public bodies, then these bodies must comply with all applicable legislation including data protection and deploy adequate processes to ensure data quality, access rights and transparency, so that farmers and other CAP beneficiaries are fully informed about which data has been exchanged with whom and for which purpose. In this regard, the EDPS notes that Article 101 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 contains specific provisions on processing and protection of personal data, in addition to indicating that personal data should be processed in accordance with Regulations (EU) 2016/679 (the ‘General Data Protection Regulation’) and the EUDPR. The EDPS also understands that the Proposal would not introduce any new processing of personal data, nor would it affect the objectives and the purposes of the processing that already exists.

12. Given the subject matter and the provisions of the Proposal, which do not raise any specific concerns from a data protection perspective, the EDPS has no further comments on the Proposal.

3. Conclusions

13. In light of the above, the EDPS does not have specific comments or recommendations on the Proposal. Brussels, 9 July 2025 (e-signed) Wojciech Rafał WIEWIÓROWSKI 7