Performance obligations with regard to the European Innovation Partnership

Question for written answer E-001685/2026
to the Commission
Rule 144
Sander Smit (ECR), Jessika van Leeuwen (ECR)

On 26 February 2026, the European Court of Auditors concluded that more than half of the European Innovation Partnership projects for the agricultural sector did not yield any useful innovations, and around a third had little relevance to agricultural practice. Unlike researchers and advisers, farmers were not systematically compensated for their participation. Projects that do compensate farmers, such as those in the Netherlands, demonstrably perform better.

• 1.Is the Commission prepared to set a minimum percentage, in the regulation governing the programme for the 2028-2034 period, for European Innovation Partnership projects that must demonstrably prove to be applicable in agricultural practice?
• 2.The Commission promises to strengthen the interactive innovation approach - the same promise it made at the start of the current programme period. What, specifically, is it doing differently compared to 2021?
• 3.Can the Commission specify a concrete, quantifiable target for farmer participation that it aims to achieve for the European Innovation Partnership in the 2028-2034 period, against which Parliament can hold it to account halfway through that period?

Submitted: 24.4.2026