Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy

The Commission intends that the new CAP will contribute to the European Green Deal, an action plan to improve biodiversity, cut pollution and boost the efficient use of resources in the EU25 As a result, it says 40% of the CAP budget will be 'climate relevant'26 According to Alan Matthews at Trinity College Dublin, the EU’s commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are fuelling the drive toward more sustainable food systems27 He wrote in the journal Intereconomics that:

“Pressure to embed environmental and climate action even more centrally into the CAP has moved up the political agenda. (…) The Paris Agreement lays out the EU emission reduction goals for 2030 to which agriculture must contribute.”28

The food industry is particularly exposed to the effects of climate change, and the European Commission has said that these are already being felt by farmers across the EU, citing changing rainfall patterns and seasonality, rising temperatures and extreme weather events29 But it says the food industry also has tools to help mitigate the effects of climate change, including crop and farm management solutions, as well as technological solutions and improvements in the use of resources

According to Kalk, when it comes to CAP reform:

“The EU used to be and, in financial terms still is, a subsidy channel for agricultural production, mainly for large-scale farming. We must shift our investments to support inclusive, fine-mazed, sustainable and circular activities. It must pay off to do the right thing. The industrial agriculture lobby is still dominant. But its days are counted. There will be a shift from animals to fermenters. Land use and ownership will have to be adapted to new insights.”30

Spotlight on organics

The organic food sector has emerged as one of the beneficiaries of CAP reform, as it continues to gain in importance in the EU, for both farmers and consumers31 About 6 7% of member states’ farmland is under organic management and is growing year on year32. The new CAP specifically aims to increase organic farming in the region, and about 6 4% of the EU budget for agricultural and climate action is earmarked for organics33

According to the Commission, organic farming can

“help deliver on the sustainability of food production and consumption, whilst also contributing to the protection of nature and reversing the degradation of ecosystems” 34