The EU’s strategy for generational renewal, presented on Tuesday 21 October, lays out ambitious plans to double the share of young farmers in Europe by 2040. Another strategy, another headline goal. Not an easy task in a continent where land is vanishing into financial portfolios, retirement remains the only viable exit, and young farmers are stuck navigating impossible markets and impossible rents. Here’s what it promises, what’s missing, and what civil society actors are saying. By Ashley Parsons, Louise Kelleher and Natasha Foote.
The central objective: Doubling the share of young farmers
At the heart of the EU strategy for generational renewal in agriculture is a simple yet bold goal: to increase the share of farmers under 40 from 12% to 25% by 2040.
The EU aims to reverse this decline by making farming more attractive and accessible. To achieve this, the European Commission proposes a set of national and EU-level measures, centred on the new CAP funding, loans, and soft enforcement mechanisms.
Obstacles to generational renewal are wide-ranging and interconnected, and the strategy addresses more immediate barriers (access to land, credit and skills) as well as factors related to what it terms “the viability of rural living”.
For “a true shift”—to lift key barriers to generational renewal—the strategy states that reforms are necessary at the national and regional level.
So what tools are in the Commission’s toolbox to create a supportive environment for young and new farmers?
Flagship initiatives
In terms of its policy toolbox, the strategy presents the post-2027 CAP as a “window of opportunity” for generational renewal, while the new MFF proposal puts forward “a more integrated approach to rural support in and beyond the CAP”.
One shiny new tool is the National and Regional Partnership plan to be drawn up by each Member State. As well as preparing a national strategy to address generation renewal, MS are expected to ringfence at least 6% of agricultural spending for generational renewal measures: double the current average.
Access to credit and finance
Under the new CAP proposal, a Starter Pack for Young Farmers would include installation aid, investment support and improved access to credit.
A new €300,000 financial cap would triple the maximum amount of support that young farmers can access through EU-backed financial instruments.
Access to knowledge and skills
With the goal of ensuring viable farms, a “Farmers of the Future” education pack for all EU agricultural schools will showcase best practices focused on resilient, diversified farm models.
Specifically to address gender disparities in agriculture, the strategy promises a new Women in Farming Platform.
And while not a new tool, Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE) will be offered to new and young farmers.
Access to land
The strategy emphasises the role of national and regional authorities in addressing barriers to access to land and preventing speculative acquisitions and land grabbing.
One new tool proposed by the Commission to close data gaps and improve transparency is the European Land Observatory.
Resilience, fair living conditions, and access to new income opportunities
The strategy acknowledges that the renewal of farming also depends on economic opportunities and the attractiveness of rural life. CAP plays a central role in this regard, but should go hand in hand with Cohesion policy and other EU policies. Here, the Rural Observatory is flagged as a tool to support evidence-based policymaking.
As part of the new CAP proposal, farm relief services would introduce support to help farmers take time off for illness, caregiving or training.
A Rural Youth Ambassadors programme is planned to help reshape public perceptions of agriculture and rural life.
Succession and retirement
CAP can inadvertently serve as a social safety net for older farmers without adequate pension entitlements. To encourage retirement and intergenerational succession, the post-2027 CAP would make pensioners ineligible to receive direct payments. The strategy indicates that this should be backed up by complementary national measures to strengthen social protections for farmers.
Shared responsibility, soft enforcement
The strategy mandates that Member States include measurable targets in their CAP Strategic Plans, supported by regular progress reports, benchmarking, and soft corrective mechanisms. However, there are no sanctions for non-compliance; countries that miss targets will only be required to justify and revise their plans.
Responsibility for implementation lies primarily with Member States, who are the ones with decision making power when it comes to tax law, land policy, pensions, and national financing. The Commission’s role is to provide guidelines, coordinate reporting, and offer financial instruments (via CAP, Horizon, EIB, and InvestEU).
Reactions
Calling it a “milestone document”, EU young farmers’ association CEJA welcomed the strategy, but warned that the strategy’s ambition was not reflected in the legislative and budgetary proposals for the next CAP reform. For instance, despite the strategy recommending a minimum of 6% of the CAP dedicated to young farmers, the Commission’s proposals do not include any binding financial commitment for generational renewal.
“Europe’s young farmers have long called for words to be backed by means. We welcome the strategy as a long-needed political signal, but without a ring-fenced budget, it risks becoming a missed opportunity,” said Peter Meedendorp, CEJA President, calling for more coherence across policy proposals.
Likewise, EU farming lobby Copa-Cogeca warned the proposed strategy “is doomed to fail if not backed by an individual, common and separate agricultural policy with a dedicated and inflation-proof budget”.
Meanwhile, Matteo Metta of Agroecology Europe welcomed some aspects of the strategy, noting that it is positive to see that proposals previously pushed by Agroecology Europe Youth, such as the capping and redistribution of CAP payments, or support for farm relief and replacement services, have been included.
But he also has concerns. “The whole strategy falls short in delivering a systemic shift. It frames generational renewal primarily within a competitiveness lens, without clearly defining the purpose of that competitiveness. If a single young farmer dominates production in a region, would that be seen as success? There is little recognition of frameworks that are more coherent with long-term sustainability, such as agroecology.”
Agroecology Europe has proposed a different path: a model of generational renewal grounded in social justice, territorial equity, and ecological transition from farm to fork. Their full response to the public consultation held this summer is available here.
Next steps
For now, the message is clear: there’s no generational renewal without land reform. And no future for farming without a future for young farmers.
ARC2020, along with our partners will explore co-developing a collective response to the strategy at the upcoming Rural Resilience Gathering on 29 November 2025. This will be an opportunity to shape a civil society-led vision for generational renewal—one rooted not only in finance, but in land justice, rural democracy, and meaningful livelihoods.
More
Mind The Gap! Sustainable Food Systems Need Intergenerational Cooperation
EU Budget: How Brussels’ New Plans Put Regions Out to Pasture
When Policy Fails, People Step Up – Inside ARC’s Rural Resilience Project
European Rural Parliament 2025 — Redefining Rurality in the Scottish Highlands
France | Not Perfect, But Possible – Seeing is Believing at Institut de Tramayes
