Joint Task for the "Improvement of Agricultural Structures and Coastal Protection"
The Joint Task for the "Improvement of Agricultural Structure and Coastal Protection" (Gemeinschaftsaufgabe "Verbesserung der Agrarstruktur und des Küstenschutzes"; GAK) is the most important national funding instrument for the support of agriculture and forestry, rural development and improvements in coastal and flood protection.
About 1.1 billion euros of federal funds are available for the GAK in 2023. Together with the co-financing by the Länder, funding in the amount of approx. 1.9 billion euros can be mobilised for GAK measures. It is an important financing tool; its goals and consequently the support it provides overlap largely with the interventions available under ELER in GAP-SP. In Germany, the GAK is an essential element of the national strategy for the development of rural areas.
The GAK aims to...
- guarantee that the agricultural and forestry sectors are efficient and geared to future requirements;
- ensure that these sectors are competitive in the European Union’s common market;
- ensure that rural areas remain efficient in the long term and that environmentally sound and resource-conserving agricultural and forestry sectors are an integral part of these areas;
- improve coastal protection;
- improve inland flood protection.
Details regarding the principles, aims and procedural questions are regulated in the Act on the Joint Task for the Improvement of Agricultural Structures and Coastal Protection (GAK Act – GAKG).
For more information on legal foundations and on how they work, please refer to the Explanatory comments on the Joint Task. If you are looking for contact details, please refer to the Contact persons of the responsible Land ministries.
The GAK framework plan
Budgeting for the Joint Task takes the form of four-year framework plans drawn up by the Federal Government and the Länder. The GAK framework plan lists the measures including the associated aims; it describes the funding principles, funding recipients, eligibility conditions and the type and level of support.
The GAK framework plan is adopted by the Programme Committee for Agricultural Structures and Coastal Protection (PLANAK), which brings together agriculture ministers at federal and Länder level and the Federal Minister of Finance. It applies throughout the financial planning period and is reviewed annually and adjusted to current developments.
The PLANAK adopted the funding principles for the GAK framework plan and the GAK framework plan itself on 2 February 2023.
For an overview of the GAK framework plans since 1973 please go to: If you are interested in reports on the implementation of the Joint Task in different years, please refer to the BMEL portal on "Statistics and reports".
A requirement for support on the ground is that the GAK measures are offered by the respective Land. The Länder are responsible for the implementation (application, authorisation, control) of the GAK framework plan.
