203
and climate change in the EU. In particular, it questions the adequacy of current and
proposed responses, given the scale and urgency of the challenges. The chapter
proceeds in three parts, with the first part considering the role of the CAP in addressing ecological challenges in the EU. Secondly, the discussion will focus on the main
elements and outcomes of the current legal framework before, thirdly, turning its
attention to the reform proposals that are currently being negotiated.
2 Responding to Growing Ecological Challenges
in the European Union: The Role of the Common
Agricultural Policy?
With almost half (approximately 48%) of the territory under their management,
farmers and other agricultural operators account for an extensive use of primary
resources across the EU (IPCC 2019). The vast majority of these farmers receive
subsidies, principally in the form of direct payments, which are financed by the EU
and subject to the rules and conditions of the CAP. Given the share coverage of
agricultural land, the CAP may therefore be distinguished as one of the EU’s most
environmentally impactful policies, having shaped the rural ecology of some
Member States (MS) for over half a century (Jack 2016). In addition, the CAP has
remained the single largest spending item in the EU budget since it was introduced
in 1962. During much of this time, the financial strength of the CAP has been
wielded to incentivise land use and production practices—through subsidies and
other economic incentives—that have favoured intensive forms of production, with
limited consideration for their long-term environmental implications (Emmerson
et al. 2016).
As already emphasised in the global context, the unmatched increases in productivity that have been realized in recent decades, have likewise come at great environmental cost in the EU, where conventional agriculture has caused major disturbances
to the ecological systems that enable food production (Springmann 2018).
Consequently, the need to reduce the impacts of agriculture is widely recognized by
the EU and has, since the early 1990s, mainly been pursued through the integration
of environmental policy objectives under the CAP. However, despite decades of
such policy integration and the development of an extensive agri-envrionmental
framework, various indicators suggest that EU efforts have largely been unsuccessful in delivering the outcomes necessary to change the current trajectory and ensure
a transition towards sustainable agriculture (Pe’er et al. 2014).
For instance, notwithstanding incremental improvements for the conservation
status of a number of species in the last decade, the EU is not expected to hit its current headline target to halt biodiversity loss by 2020 (IPBES 2018). This would,
thus, be the second time the EU has fallen short of reaching its own biodiversity
goals, having also failed to meet the previous targets set under its 2010 biodiversity
strategy (European Commission 2006). The sustained decline is particularly
Agriculture in the European Union: Seven More Years of Environmental Austerity?
and climate change in the EU. In particular, it questions the adequacy of current and
proposed responses, given the scale and urgency of the challenges. The chapter
proceeds in three parts, with the first part considering the role of the CAP in addressing ecological challenges in the EU. Secondly, the discussion will focus on the main
elements and outcomes of the current legal framework before, thirdly, turning its
attention to the reform proposals that are currently being negotiated.
2 Responding to Growing Ecological Challenges
in the European Union: The Role of the Common
Agricultural Policy?
With almost half (approximately 48%) of the territory under their management,
farmers and other agricultural operators account for an extensive use of primary
resources across the EU (IPCC 2019). The vast majority of these farmers receive
subsidies, principally in the form of direct payments, which are financed by the EU
and subject to the rules and conditions of the CAP. Given the share coverage of
agricultural land, the CAP may therefore be distinguished as one of the EU’s most
environmentally impactful policies, having shaped the rural ecology of some
Member States (MS) for over half a century (Jack 2016). In addition, the CAP has
remained the single largest spending item in the EU budget since it was introduced
in 1962. During much of this time, the financial strength of the CAP has been
wielded to incentivise land use and production practices—through subsidies and
other economic incentives—that have favoured intensive forms of production, with
limited consideration for their long-term environmental implications (Emmerson
et al. 2016).
As already emphasised in the global context, the unmatched increases in productivity that have been realized in recent decades, have likewise come at great environmental cost in the EU, where conventional agriculture has caused major disturbances
to the ecological systems that enable food production (Springmann 2018).
Consequently, the need to reduce the impacts of agriculture is widely recognized by
the EU and has, since the early 1990s, mainly been pursued through the integration
of environmental policy objectives under the CAP. However, despite decades of
such policy integration and the development of an extensive agri-envrionmental
framework, various indicators suggest that EU efforts have largely been unsuccessful in delivering the outcomes necessary to change the current trajectory and ensure
a transition towards sustainable agriculture (Pe’er et al. 2014).
For instance, notwithstanding incremental improvements for the conservation
status of a number of species in the last decade, the EU is not expected to hit its current headline target to halt biodiversity loss by 2020 (IPBES 2018). This would,
thus, be the second time the EU has fallen short of reaching its own biodiversity
goals, having also failed to meet the previous targets set under its 2010 biodiversity
strategy (European Commission 2006). The sustained decline is particularly
Agriculture in the European Union: Seven More Years of Environmental Austerity?