Approval of the CAP Strategic Plan

1.   Each Member State shall submit to the Commission a proposal for a CAP Strategic Plan, with the content referred to in Article 107, no later than 1 January 2022.
2.   The Commission shall assess the proposed CAP Strategic Plan as regards its completeness, its consistency and coherence with the general principles of Union law, with this Regulation and the delegated and implementing acts adopted pursuant to it and with Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, its effective contribution to the achievement of the specific objectives set out in Article 6(1) and (2) and its impact on the proper functioning of the internal market and distortion of competition and on the level of administrative burden on beneficiaries and administration. The assessment shall address, in particular, the adequacy of the strategy of the CAP Strategic Plan, the corresponding specific objectives, targets, interventions and the allocation of budgetary resources to meet the specific CAP Strategic Plan objectives through the proposed set of interventions on the basis of the SWOT analysis and the ex-ante evaluation.
3.   Depending on the results of the assessment referred to in paragraph 2, the Commission may address observations to the Member States within three months of the date of submission of the CAP Strategic Plan.
The Member State shall provide to the Commission all necessary additional information and, where appropriate, revise the proposed plan.
4.   The Commission shall approve the proposed CAP Strategic Plan provided that the necessary information has been submitted and the Plan is compatible with Article 9 and the other requirements set out in this Regulation and in Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 as well as the delegated and implementing acts adopted pursuant to them. The approval shall exclusively be based on acts which are legally binding on Member States.
5.   The approval of each CAP Strategic Plan shall take place no later than six months following its submission by the Member State concerned.
The approval shall not cover the information referred to in Article 113, point (c), and in Annexes I to IV to the CAP Strategic Plan referred to in Article 107(2), points (a) to (d).
In duly justified cases, a Member State may ask the Commission to approve a CAP Strategic Plan which does not contain all elements. In that case the Member State concerned shall indicate the parts of the CAP Strategic Plan that are missing and provide indicative targets and financial plans as referred to in Article 112 for the whole CAP Strategic Plan in order to show the overall consistency and coherence of the plan. The missing elements of the CAP Strategic Plan shall be submitted to the Commission as an amendment of the plan in accordance with Article 119 within a timeframe not exceeding three months from the date of approval of the CAP Strategic Plan.
6.   Each CAP Strategic Plan shall be approved by the Commission by means of an implementing decision without applying the Committee procedure referred to in Article 153.
7.   The CAP Strategic Plans shall have legal effects only after their approval by the Commission.