EU agrarian reform:

Agriculture experts demand integration of ecological aspects in agricultural policy

Agriculture Commission at UBA seeks to make consideration of environmental aspects condition of subsidies

Press Release 038/2011

1 August 2011

Europe’s agriculture sector is granted 57 billion euros per year in public funding. Do these subsidies make sense, and where might there be room for improvement in EU subsidies policy? Is environmental protection adequately taken into account in EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)? The Agriculture Commission (KLU) at the Federal Environment Agency believes the opportunity to optimise CAP in 2014-2020 should be seized during the upcoming round of CAP reform talks. “A reform in EU agricultural policy should only subsidise those farmers who provide goods and services for the greater public. This means that the agricultural sector must make greater efforts in future to protect water, climate, air, and biodiversity if they want to continue to receive subsidies”, said KLU Chairman Lutz Ribbe.

To achieve this goal, it is of utmost importance that binding requirements concerning the ”greening“ of agriculture be integrated in the first pillar for farmers who seek to continue to receive direct payments...

Source: EU agrarian reform: Agriculture experts demand integration of ecological aspects in agricultural policy
Author: KLU