How OpenAgri Fits into the EU Green Deal and CAP
A changing policy landscape for farming
Farming in Europe is no longer only about producing food. It is also about protecting ecosystems, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, using resources more efficiently and ensuring rural communities thrive. Two major policy frameworks shape this transformation: the European Green Deal, which sets the vision for a climate-neutral and sustainable Europe, and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which provides the instruments and funding to make that vision possible on farms.
These frameworks may feel distant from the daily concerns of a farmer choosing when to irrigate or spray. Yet the decisions taken in Brussels directly affect the conditions under which farmers work, from the incentives they receive to the rules they must follow. Projects like OpenAgri play a crucial role in bridging the gap between high-level ambitions and practical tools that support farmers in real time.
What the Green Deal and CAP mean in practice
The Green Deal is the European Union’s overarching strategy to become climate-neutral by 2050. For agriculture, this includes reducing the use of pesticides and fertilisers, restoring soil health, protecting biodiversity and improving animal welfare. The CAP translates these goals into specific schemes and incentives. It provides funding for eco-schemes that reward sustainable practices, for example by supporting precision irrigation or crop diversification. It also finances advisory services and rural development programmes that help farmers adopt new approaches.
For farmers, the challenge is that these policies set ambitious targets while daily realities remain complex. Water scarcity, new pest pressures, fluctuating markets and infrastructure gaps make sustainable choices harder to implement. Digital tools can help by providing timely information, automating records and supporting more efficient use of resources. But for these tools to be trusted and adopted, they need to be open, affordable and designed with real farm conditions in mind. That is precisely where OpenAgri fits in.
Bringing policy goals into the field
OpenAgri was created to make digital agriculture accessible to all, including farmers in remote areas with limited connectivity or energy supply. By building open-source software and hardware solutions, the project ensures that innovations are not locked behind proprietary systems but can be adapted and reused. This openness reflects the Green Deal’s emphasis on fairness, transparency and wide participation.
The CAP’s eco-schemes encourage practices such as reducing water use or cutting down on pesticide applications. OpenAgri’s pilots demonstrate how this can be achieved in practice. In vineyards, for example, digital scouting helps growers target disease management more precisely. In potato fields, pest detection tools guide interventions plot by plot rather than across entire farms. In livestock systems, remote monitoring supports better animal welfare by giving breeders reliable information even in pastures far from electricity or internet access. In each case, digital support helps farmers align with policy expectations without adding unnecessary administrative burden.
Supporting data fairness and farmer autonomy
A key principle of the Green Deal is that sustainability should not come at the cost of fairness. Farmers often express concern about who owns and controls the data generated on their farms. If digitalisation creates new dependencies or locks them into expensive systems, the promise of innovation is undermined. OpenAgri addresses this by designing tools that respect data sovereignty. Access and control are built in from the start, and outputs are generated in farmer-friendly formats that support compliance without requiring extra work.
This approach resonates strongly with the CAP’s support for advisory services. Advisors and cooperatives can use OpenAgri’s solutions to provide tailored guidance, while farmers remain in control of their own data. The result is a healthier relationship between technology, policy and practice, where information empowers rather than constrains.
A wider European impact
The Green Deal and CAP are not abstract policy documents; they are roadmaps for how European agriculture will evolve over the coming decades. OpenAgri shows how that evolution can be grounded in concrete, farmer-centred solutions. By Month 18 of the project, pilots across Europe had already demonstrated tools that save water, reduce inputs and generate evidence for more sustainable management. These early outcomes show that policy targets are not only aspirational but achievable when supported by the right innovations.
Beyond the pilots, OpenAgri has grown its network through events, partnerships and an open call that brings new regions and practices into the fold. This expansion reflects the EU’s vision of knowledge exchange across borders and farming systems. Lessons learned in one region can inspire practices elsewhere, reinforcing the Green Deal’s emphasis on collective progress.
Conclusion
The European Green Deal and the Common Agricultural Policy set ambitious goals for farming, but farmers need more than targets and incentives. They need tools that help them make better decisions in their fields, under their specific conditions, day after day. OpenAgri provides those tools. By focusing on openness, resilience and farmer involvement, the project translates policy into practice.
Digital agriculture will not achieve the Green Deal on its own, but without it, many of the goals will remain out of reach. With projects like OpenAgri, the connection between policy ambition and practical farming becomes clearer, more tangible and more achievable. It is this bridge—from Brussels strategies to everyday decisions in fields and barns—that makes the project an important partner in Europe’s transition to sustainable agriculture.