EN    EN 
 
 
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION   
Brussels, 26.9.2017  
SWD(2017) 315 final  
  
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  
Accompanying the document  
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
TO THE COUNCIL  
Mid-term evaluation of Regulation (EU) No 652/2014 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council laying down provisions for the management of expenditure relating to the 
food chain, animal health and animal welfare, and relating to plant health and plant 
reproductive material, amending Council Directives 98/56/EC, 2000/29/EC and 
2008/90/EC, Regulations (EC) No 178/2002, (EC) No 882/2004 and (EC) No 396/2005 of 
the European Parliament and of the Council, Directive 2009/128/EC of the European 
Parliament and o f the Council and Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Decisions 66/399/EEC, 
76/894/EEC and 2009/470/EC  
{COM(2017) 546 final}  
{SWD(2017) 314 final}  
{SWD(2017) 316 final}   
 
2 
 Regulation (EU) No 652/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 
(hereinafter: CFF Regulation) lays down provisions for the management of expenditure 
relating to the food chain, animal health and animal welfare, plant health and pla nt 
reproductive material.  
Article 42 of the CFF Regulation provides that the Commission shall establish and present to 
the European Parliament and to the Council a mid -term evaluation report on whether, in terms 
of their results and impacts, the animal he alth and plant health measures (Chapters I and II of 
Title II) and the European Union Reference laboratories and Better Training for Safer Food 
activities (Articles 30 and 31 of Chapter III) achieve the objectives set out in the Regulation 
itself (Article 2(1)), as regards the efficiency of the use of resources and its added value, at 
Union level.  
The CFF Regulation involves an average annual spending of EUR 270,3 million, with a 
maximum ceiling for expenditure of EUR 1  891 936 000 over the 7 -year  period 20 14-2020.  
The present Staff Working Document (SWD) summarises the outcome of the mid -term 
evaluation exercise, which included an external study complemented by the internal 
assessment performed by the Commission. The evaluation fully covers the implementat ion of 
the above -referred measures in the 28 EU Member States for 2014, 2015 and, partially, for 
2016, dependant on preliminary data available. The SWD provides a qualitative and 
quantitative overview of those measures and assesses them against the five ev aluation criteria 
set by the Better Regulation1 policies in the European Commission: relevance, European 
added value, effectiveness, efficiency and coherence.  
Based on the analysis performed, it can be concluded that the CFF Regulation is highly 
relevant  in the area of food chain: ensuring a high status of human, animal and plant health, it 
helps to protect more than 500 million of European consumers and facilitates the functioning 
of agri -food supply chains. The majority of the activities covered by the CFF Regulation 
proved to be effective  in achieving the CFF objectives, and showed progress in the indicators 
used to monitor the CFF measures implemented. Also the outcome of the consultation process 
revealed a large appreciation of the EU financial contri bution in those areas. Overall, the use 
of CFF financial resources is efficient  and consistent with the results achieved. Particularly, in 
the veterinary area, the improvement of the animal health status is accompanied by a 
progressive and significant redu ction of the financial resources needed. The CFF Regulation 
has shown to be largely coherent  with other EU and national policies in the area of food 
safety. Primary agriculture coherence is reflected in the complementarity of the CFF 
regulation and Common Agriculture Policies.  The measures co -financed by the CFF 
Regulation strongly contribute to creating EU added value . Member States benefit from the 
prioritised and targeted implementation of EU co -funded activities, especially for emergency, 
eradication, c ontrol and monitoring measures for animal diseases and plant pest throughout 
the Union.  
                                                            
1 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law -making -process/better -regulation -why-and-how_en  
 
3 
 Overall, the mid -term evaluation revealed that the CFF Regulation is functioning well within 
its policy context. All activities receiving EU financial support in this area have proven to 
serve the CFF objectives, namely the improvement of human, animal and plant health, as well 
as the overall Commission’s priorities, including the functioning of an effective internal 
market and the support to trade with non -EU countries . 
The EU financial provisions on food safety, animal and plant health have been recognised as 
uniform and consistent in their application and enforcement in all EU Member States. This 
ensures in turn that both citizens and businesses are confident that thi s financial framework is 
fair and effective in promoting high safety standards in a key sector of the EU economy.  The 
activities funded under the CFF Regulation contribute to an EU which is safe and secure, 
prosperous and sustainable, social, and stronger on the global scene.