On 4 March 2026, a focus group meeting entitled “Creating the vision of National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPP): shaping a shared and integrated vision in Lithuania” was held in Vilnius. The event was organised as part of the Horizon project “Tools4CAP”, which in Lithuania is implemented by the Institute of Economics and Rural Development of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences.
The meeting brought together representatives of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Paying Agency, the Chamber of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Rural Communities Union, the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania, and the Institute of Economics and Rural Development of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences. The focus group provided an opportunity for experts from different institutions and stakeholder groups to discuss what a more integrated approach to the future NRPP could mean in practice for Lithuania.
The discussion addressed the main challenges and opportunities related to the future NRPP, including its possible structure, governance and coordination arrangements, the role of regions, and the tools needed to support planning and monitoring. Particular attention was given to strategic directions, potential trade-offs, and ways to strengthen shared responsibility across policy areas.
One key conclusion was the need for clear strategic priorities. Participants stressed that the NRPP should be based on a limited number of strategic directions capable of linking agricultural competitiveness, regional vitality, environmental sustainability, and broader economic resilience. They also highlighted the importance of stronger cross-ministerial coordination, shared monitoring systems, and the early involvement of regional actors and social partners.
Overall, the discussion showed that the NRPP could provide an important opportunity to strengthen policy coherence, improve the strategic prioritisation of public expenditure, and address cross-sectoral challenges through a more integrated governance framework.
The results of the focus group will be available on ekvi.lt and project websites.
The Tools4CAP project (2023-2026) is implemented by a consortium of 14 partners (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain) and 7 associated entities (Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia). The project is coordinated by ECORYS (Belgium). The researchers from the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences Institute of Economics and Rural Development take part in the project as associated partners representing the European Rural Development Network.
The ambition of the project is to provide decision-makers with suitable tools for a more evidence-based policy design.
Project team in Lithuania:
Dr Živilė Gedminaitė-Raudonė – zivile.gedminaite@ekvi.lt
Dr Rita Lankauskienė – rita.lankauskiene@ekvi.lt
Dr Rasa Melnikienė – rasa.melnikiene@ekvi.lt
More information about the project: www.tools4cap.eu and www.ekvi.lt