The public consultation on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was conducted through an online questionnaire launched by the European Commission from February 2 to May 2, 2017.

In an initial analysis of participation, the European Commission has counted a total of 322,912 responses from all EU member states. This figure includes the participation of individual citizens , national, regional , and local public authorities , as well as various organizations representing a broad spectrum of stakeholders and various online interest group platforms . Participating organizations and institutions accounted for 3.11% of the total, with 10,032 responses, while individual citizens accounted for 96.89%.

According to the type of organizations, 61% are private, 12% come from professional associations , 9% from NGOs , 3% from regional and local governments , and 2% from national governments . Regarding the sector to which these organizations belong, 77% belong to the agricultural sector , 4% to the environment , 3% to the agri-food sector , another 3% come from rural development , 2% from civil society , 2% from the forestry sector , 2% from trade unions , and another 2% from research . The research and public health sectors each contribute 1%. It is noteworthy that among the individual participants, who represent 96.89% of the total, only 7.18% are directly linked to agriculture, compared to 77% of the participating organizations that belong to the agricultural sector.

The European Commission plans to present all the results of the public survey on 7 July in Brussels . They will also be disseminated on the Commission's website and included in the Communication on the Future of the CAP, which will be presented at the end of the year.

Among the initial provisional results, Spain participated with a total of 24,776 responses (7.67%) , making it the fourth most popular country. Germany, with 147,142 responses (45.57%), was the most popular European country, followed by France with 40,390 responses (12.51%) and Italy with 38,425 responses (11.90%).

The Commission interprets these participation results as evidence of strong public interest in the need to modernize and simplify the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) . Therefore, the responses submitted will be taken into account in an analysis of all the opinions expressed.

The survey consisted of 28 closed-ended, multiple-choice questions and 5 open-ended questions. The questions were divided into three main areas:

1. Agriculture, rural areas and the current CAP.

2. Objectives and governance.

3. Agriculture, rural areas and the CAP of the future.

This public consultation is one of the instruments that will be used to ensure a transparent, inclusive, and participatory debate on the future of the CAP . It will also seek to include direct and ongoing engagement with various stakeholders and expert groups , particularly through several Civil Dialogue Groups (which assist the Commission through regular dialogue on all CAP-related matters), with national governments , and with the parliaments of European countries .