A new report has been released advocating a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), recommending that direct payments to farmers should be systematically reduced.
The report, by Rural Investment Support for Europe Group, criticises CAP and says it does not make best use of the considerable resources deployed to support land managers through the necessary transition.
It says the largest instruments of the CAP, the Pillar 1 direct payments, which account for over 70 per cent of CAP funds are ineffective, inefficient and inequitable.
It is suggested that these direct payments should be systematically reduced and resources switched to provide targeted assistance, including transitional adjustment assistance to help farmers adapt and rise to the specific challenges of improving productivity, resource efficiency and risk management and to pay farmers to provide specific environmental and other public goods.
The report says that in the context of over-stretched resources, especially soil, water and biodiversity, changes in climate which impair agricultural production, and greater volatility in farming conditions, it is 'essential' that Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is further adapted.
'Status quo is unacceptable'
The report reads: "The status quo is unacceptable. The CAP must be modernised to help EU farming become a better-structured industry which is economically viable and environmentally sustainable.
"Indeed, agriculture has a crucial role to play in addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring that European Union lives up to its commitments to these goals."
The report argues that the two principal aspects of the CAP requiring the most attention are land management and risk management.
Where land management is concerned, the greatest worry is that the current environmental standards are not being met.
The report therefore proposes a redesigned, more integrated tiered structure of supports with clearer targets on the environmental outcomes sought.
The core issue concerning risk management is that the present approach in the CAP towards market orientation has not gone far enough.
The report reads: "Indeed, the sheer scale of direct payment inhibits farmers from better mitigating the risks they face.
"Finally, following the lessons that have been learnt from previous successful reforms, we suggest some procedural changes to kick-start a more effective reform process which brings together more constructively the conflicting interests in agricultural policy."
