In a critical report published on World Environment Day, 5 June, the Court of Auditors stated that greening measures in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have so far failed to halt the continuing decline in biodiversity on farmland.
In its 2020 biodiversity strategy, the EU committed itself to halting this decline, increasing the contribution of agriculture and forestry to maintaining biodiversity, and making a “measurable improvement” in the conservation status of species and habitats affected by agriculture.
The Court notes that, although some direct payment requirements such as “greening” and “cross-compliance” have the potential to improve biodiversity, the Commission and Member States have favoured low-impact options such as nitrogen-fixing crops.
It also highlights a sanctions system that is too ineffective to have a significant impact, and the under-used potential for greening, particularly in rural development.
The Court also notes that the lack of measurable targets in the 2020 biodiversity strategy makes it difficult to measure the progress and performance of EU-funded actions.
The auditors recommend that the Commission should better coordinate the new strategy with the CAP, enhance the contribution of direct payments and rural development to biodiversity, track budget expenditure more accurately, and develop reliable indicators to assess the impact of the CAP. The Court acknowledges that some measures in the 2030 biodiversity strategy, which has only recently been presented, are in line with its recommendations.
Viorel Ștefan, the member of the Court of Auditors who led the audit, said in a statement that “the post-2020 CAP proposal and the 2030 biodiversity strategy aim to make the CAP more responsive to challenges such as biodiversity loss”. This was also emphasised on Friday by Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius before the meeting of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment. To read the report, go to: https://bit.ly/2A4FMkM (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)