"The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) does not respect biodiversity, climate and soil". This is the stark conclusion of more than 3,600 scientists from the 27 EU Member States and 36 other countries.
The EU Council and the European Parliament have not yet taken a position on the Commission's proposals on the post-2020 CAP, proposals which are criticised by these scientists.
They believe that "agriculture is the main driver of environmental degradation in Europe" and call for a radical reform of the CAP in a ten-point action plan.
The action plan aims to focus 40% of the EU budget on public goods and societal objectives. Researchers suggest transforming direct payments into 'payments for public goods'.
This would involve abolishing Coupled Payments that encourages certain intensive agricultural production. The funds released should be used to encourage multifunctional farming systems, such as agroforestry and organic farming.
It is also proposed to make insurance against climate-related risks conditional on tangible risk mitigation measures to reduce droughts, forest fires, floods, soil losses or greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2019, the CAP accounted for 36.1% of the EU budget (€58.4 billion). This budget is mainly spent on direct aid (75% of the funding, gathered in the first pillar of the CAP) which pays farmers in proportion to the area cultivated. This encourages gigantic farm sizes and encourages practices that are harmful to the environment, the researchers deplore. Link to the action plan: http://bit.ly/3344ZWs (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)