CAP conditionality maturity · Regulation (EU) 2021/2115
Your CAP conditionality, measured requirement by requirement and turned into an action plan.
10 themes, a 5-level scale. And the action that moves each level to the next.
The framework’s 10 themes, already written from L1 to L5. One company, one business unit, or 300 at once.
CAP conditionality maturity · Regulation (EU) 2021/2115
10 themes, 5-level scale.
Nordhavn Industries
53 / 100
They measure their maturity with Datamensio
An example
This could be your situation.
Take one company as an example: three sites, three spreadsheets, no shared answer.
Nobody can consolidate.
Nordhavn Industries, 2,400 people in Hamburg, Lyon and Porto. A client asks where the group stands. Each site answers in its own spreadsheet, with its own scales.
Three weeks, a single base.
One Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of 2 December 2021 (CAP strategic plans), GAEC and SMR conditionality assessment launched across all three sites at once, from the managers’ interview notes. The framework was already written, its 10 themes and levels L1 to L5 too.
Two costs avoided before being committed.
A score of 53 out of 100, with the gap concentrated on three themes. The AI companion spotted that two actions duplicated those of another audit. The committee report took one sentence to request.
What it saved them
- 3sites measured on the same base, instead of three questionnaires to reconcile
- 2duplicate actions caught before the spend
- 1committee report, with no manual rework
These figures are an example. They could be yours.
The standard imposes processes. Datamensio says where you stand.
01
The framework is already written
Themes, questions and levels L1 to L5, all written. You do not start from an empty spreadsheet.
02
The score lands the same day
Online, by self-assessment link or in interview. Theme by theme, comparable over time.
03
The gap becomes a costed plan
Every step up carries its action. The AI prioritises on expected effect, not on the order of the standard.
04
Progress can be demonstrated
Campaign after campaign, against your target and against your own past. That is what your board asks for.
The maturity scale
One level, the next, and the action that links the two.
It is this mechanism, one level, the level above, and the action linking the two, that turns a finding into a trajectory.
Is the plant protection treatment register kept up to date and usable at any time?
- N1
No register kept on a continuous basis. Treatments are reconstructed from invoices and the farmer’s memory.
- N2
A register exists, filled in periodically and completed before deadlines. Some treatments are missing or roughly dated.
- N3
The register is completed after each treatment, with plot, product, dose, date and operator. Omissions are rare and corrected.
- N4
Completion is systematic and checked by an internal third party, cross-referenced with stocks and invoices, with applicator certificates and sprayer inspections filed in the same place.
- N5
The set-up is reviewed periodically based on observed gaps and regulatory changes, with traceability of revisions and integration of inspection feedback.
Action to move from L2 to L3
Make the record contemporaneous with the treatment: the operator who carried it out logs it the same day, on a single record, with a weekly check of the week’s entries during the site’s weekly briefing.
« With Datamensio, we meet our objectives far more efficiently. The ERDF inspection services and our supervising ministry particularly appreciated an approach that gives them reliable data. »
Director, CCI 94CCI Île-de-France
« We believe this is the most suitable solution to scale our transformation project and measure impact according to our needs. »
Maja SucekChief Operating Officer, Interreg Danube
Rarely on its own
Frameworks combine. Put several together to cover your business, or have the AI write yours.
Take your first measurement
What this framework covers
Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 sets out the rules on CAP strategic plans for the 2023 to 2027 period. Annex III defines conditionality: on one side the standards for good agricultural and environmental condition of land, the GAEC, and on the other the statutory management requirements, the SMR, which refer back to existing legislation on water, plant protection products, animal health, food safety and animal welfare. Non compliance triggers a payment reduction, applied according to the severity, extent, permanence and recurrence of the breach.
In practice, conditionality is hard to manage because it is scattered. The expected evidence sits in the plant protection register, the fertilisation plan, the livestock register, the field logbook, the input invoices, and rarely in one place. The same practical questions keep coming up: who ensures that soil cover during sensitive periods is actually documented plot by plot? Is the treatment register kept as work happens, or reconstructed just before the inspection? Does the graphic declaration match the reality on the ground, particularly for non productive features and buffer strips?
One frequent confusion is worth clearing up: conditionality is not a voluntary specification. It cannot be certified and carries no label. It is the regulatory baseline that gives entitlement to payment, distinct from eco-schemes and agri-environmental and climate measures, which reward practices that go beyond it. Paying agencies and control bodies verify this baseline, partly through remote sensing under the area monitoring system. A solid internal set-up therefore serves conditionality just as well as the paid commitments layered on top of it.
A conditionality inspection concludes with a binary finding, anomaly or no anomaly, followed by a reduction rate. The maturity assessment answers a different question. It places each practice on a progressive scale, from no monitoring to a reviewed and documented set-up, and points to the precise action that moves it up a level. It is carried out ahead of the inspection, with a cool head, across the whole scope rather than the sample the inspector happens to pick.
In Datamensio, the framework is ready to use and adaptable. The AI adjusts the themes, questions and levels to your type of production and your region, or builds a variant from your own documents: sector specifications, internal instructions, paying agency notes.
Reference standard: Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of 2 December 2021 (CAP strategic plans), GAEC and SMR conditionality
The themes assessed
Climate and protection of carbon-rich soils
Maintenance of permanent grassland, protection of wetlands and peatland, ban on stubble burning, monitoring of the reference ratio.
Water protection
Buffer strips along watercourses, compliance with spreading ban periods, nitrogen fertilisation plan, authorisation procedure for irrigation, protection of groundwater against hazardous substances.
Erosion and soil cover
Management of tillage on sensitive slopes, minimum cover during sensitive periods, crop rotation or diversification, plot-level recording of practices.
Biodiversity and landscape
Minimum share of non productive areas and features, preservation of landscape features, ban on hedge cutting during nesting season, obligations linked to Natura 2000 sites.
Plant protection products
Treatment register keeping, individual applicator certificates, periodic sprayer inspection, compliance with use conditions and untreated zones, product storage.
Food and feed safety
Upstream and downstream traceability, management of non-conforming products, primary production hygiene, storage and distribution conditions for animal feed.
Animal identification and health
Identification and registration of animals, livestock register keeping, notification of movements, prevention and reporting of transmissible diseases, use and recording of veterinary medicines.
Animal welfare
Housing and space conditions, feed and water provision, monitoring of animals, management of sick or injured animals, training of staff.
Document management and inspection readiness
Centralisation of records, consistency between the graphic declaration and the reality on the ground, retention of evidence for the required period, follow-up on inspection findings.
Organisation and skills
Allocation of responsibilities for record keeping, monitoring of applicable orders and instructions, training of staff and contractors, internal review of practices.
A short version of the framework is available for the online self-assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Is CAP conditionality certifiable?
No. It is a regulatory baseline that aid payment depends on, verified by the paying agency and control bodies. There is no certification body and no label. The assessment measures the maturity of practices and prepares for inspection, it does not award anything.
What is the difference between this assessment and a conditionality inspection?
An inspection concludes with an anomaly or no anomaly, followed by a reduction rate calculated from severity, extent, permanence and recurrence. The assessment places each practice on a maturity scale and gives the action that moves it forward. It is carried out beforehand, across the whole scope.
Does the framework cover eco-schemes and AECMs?
The framework covers conditionality, that is the GAEC and SMR in Annex III. Eco-schemes and agri-environmental and climate measures reward additional practices: they can be added as extra themes, with the AI building them from your contractual commitments.
How long does the assessment take?
The short version takes 20 to 30 minutes to complete. The full version, run collaboratively, typically spans one to two weeks: most of the time goes into gathering plot-level records, the livestock register and supporting documents.
Can the framework be adapted to our production type and region?
Yes. GAEC standards are set nationally and regionally, and not every SMR applies to every farm. You can edit the questions, levels and themes, or start from your own documents. You retain full control of the framework.
How can several farms or sites be assessed?
The assessment can be launched in batch across a set of business units. Scores can be compared between entities and against previous campaigns, and a cross-cutting roadmap consolidates action plans to avoid duplicating the same work.
Do respondents need regulatory expertise?
The questions concern practices and records, not legal interpretation of the texts. A technical manager or adviser can answer them, and the collaborative mode allows livestock or fertilisation questions to be assigned to the right person.
Where is the data hosted?
In France, with OVH, with backup at Scaleway. No transfer outside the European Union. The AI models used can be selected, including from European providers.