What is the environmental potential of the post-2022 common agricultural policy?

Abstract

With the latest reform of the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) in 2021, the EU has introduced a modified toolkit of environmental instruments. This paper compares the final version of the legal texts of the current and preceding CAP to analyse whether there is potential scope for greater environmental ambition. A pivotal element of the new CAP is the new delivery model. This model grants Member States more flexibility to adjust CAP instruments according to their respective needs. While the new delivery model provides opportunities for more targeted interventions, clear guardrails are missing. In consequence, the EU institutions have limited influence on the CAP Strategic Plans’ level of ambition. Generally, the ambition level of the conditionality and also the budget attributed to environmental instruments within Pillar 2 was increased. The design of and participation in Eco-schemes, a new instrument in Pillar 1, will be the key factors determining whether the new CAP will lead to a significantly higher environmental performance. However, the Strategic Plan Regulation only contains vague recommendations to the Member States to take the Green Deal into account, which in no way meets the requirements formulated in the Green Deal. Furthermore, recent revisions to the new CAP legislation have rolled back some of the potential improvements that we identify in this paper.