R(en)ationalizing the CAP: towards an experimentalist governance architecture?

The recent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has introduced a new delivery model (NDM), granting Member States more flexibility in implementing the CAP. It requires Member States to develop Strategic Plans (SPs) in which they specify their contribution to the CAP’s general objectives by translating these into national targets. The SPs (and their implementation and results) are assessed ex ante and ex post by the European Commission. The NDM can be seen as a way to deal with diversity among Member States, but also as a way to increase the performance of the CAP. In the recent literature and policy debates this new model is discussed in terms of a (re)nationalization of the CAP or in relation to Member States’ capacity for strategic planning. In this paper we ask the question to what extent we can understand the NDM in terms of experimentalist governance (XG) and what this could mean for the effectiveness of the CAP. Based on Sabel and Zeitlin's conceptualization of XG and drawing on documentation, secondary analyses and interviews with EU and national officials, this paper seeks to provide a first answer to this question.