The introduction of strategic programming is the most important change to the Common Agricultural Policy for its programming period 2023–2027. It brings a shift of responsibility to the Member States and the possibility of more efficient agriculture policy-making in the European Union. The main purpose of this work is to present and critically evaluate the process of strategic planning of the Common Agricultural Policy. This process is complex and influenced by the political environment. Therefore, in this context, we examine the conceptual and legislative framework and present this process using Slovenia as an example. The strategic planning of the Common Agricultural Policy is based on the theory of strategic management of public policies, and on the theoretical concepts of the policy cycle and evidence-based policy. To present the case of Slovenia, we obtained the views of those involved in the preparation of the CAP Strategic Plan for Slovenia. The analysis shows that there are several systemic weaknesses in the legislative framework - loosely defined objectives whose indicators are not linked to the actual impact of actions, a systemically weak intervention logic, a lack of incentive or provision for the use of tools and other approaches to support decision-making, and a loose definition of the composition of stakeholders in the strategic planning working groups. This analysis has also helped us to identify suggestions that could improve the planning process.
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