European Union & PAC

CAP

The common agricultural policy at a glance

The common agricultural policy supports farmers and ensures Europe’s food security.

Aims of the common agricultural policy

Launched in 1962, the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) is a partnership between agriculture and society, and between Europe and its farmers. It aims to

• support farmers and improve agricultural productivity, ensuring a stable supply of affordable food

• safeguard European Union (EU) farmers to make a reasonable living

• help tackle climate change and the sustainable management of natural resources

• maintain rural areas and landscapes across the EU

• keep the rural economy alive by promoting jobs in farming, agri-foods industries and associated sectors

The CAP is a common policy for all the countries of the European Union. It is managed and funded at European level from the resources of the EU’s budget.

The CAP in practice

Farming is unlike most other businesses, as the following special considerations apply

• despite the importance of food production, farmers’ income is around 40% lower compared to non-agricultural income

• agriculture depends more on the weather and the climate than many other sectors

• there is an inevitable time gap between consumer demand and farmers being able to supply – growing more wheat or producing more milk inevitably takes time

While being cost-effective, farmers should work in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner, and maintain our soils and biodiversity.

Business uncertainties and the environmental impact of farming justify the significant role that the public sector plays for our farmers. The CAP takes action with

• income support through direct payments ensures income stability, and remunerates farmers for environmentally friendly farming and delivering public goods not normally paid for by the markets, such as taking care of the countryside

• market measures to deal with difficult market situations such as a sudden drop in demand due to a health scare, or a fall in prices as a result of a temporary oversupply on the market

• rural development measures with national and regional programmes to address the specific needs and challenges facing rural areas

The benefits of the CAP

The CAP defines the conditions that will allow farmers to fulfil their functions in society in the following ways

Produce food

• there are around 11 million farms in the EU and 22 million people work regularly in the sector. They provide an impressive variety of abundant, affordable, safe and good quality products

• the EU is known throughout the world for its food and culinary traditions and is one of the world’s leading producers and net exporter of agri-food products. Due to its exceptional agricultural resources the EU could and should play a key role in ensuring food security of the world at large.

Rural community development

• within our countryside and its precious natural resources, there are many jobs linked to farming. Farmers need machinery, buildings, fuel, fertilisers and healthcare for their animals, also known as ‘upstream’ sectors

• other people are busy in ‘downstream’ operations – such as preparing, processing, and packaging food, as well as in food storage, transport and retailing. The farming and food sectors together provide nearly 44 million jobs in the EU

• to operate efficiently and remain modern and productive, farmers, upstream and downstream sectors need ready access to the latest information on agricultural issues, farming methods and market developments. During the period 2014-20, the CAP is expected to provide high-speed technologies, improved internet services and infrastructure to 18 million rural citizens – the equivalent of 6.4% of the EU’s rural population

Environmentally sustainable farming

• farmers have a double challenge – to produce food whilst simultaneously protecting nature and safeguarding biodiversity.  Using natural resources prudently is essential for our food production and for our quality of life – today, tomorrow and for future generations

Young farmers

Faced with an ageing farming population, the European Union (EU) is stepping up its efforts to encourage young people to take up the baton. Young farmers are given a helping hand to get their business off the ground with start-up grants and other financial and practical support such as trainings. Supporting the next generation of European farmers not only enhances the future competitiveness of European agriculture, it also helps guarantee Europe's food supplies for years to come.

The modern farm is a dynamic workplace, often using innovative technology such as milking robots or irrigation via mobile phones. Yet only 6% of all farm holdings in Europe are run by farmers under 35 – and getting more young people interested in farming is a big challenge!

Helping young people to become farmers

That is why the EU has a number of programmes designed to encourage young people to become the next generation of European farmers.

For example, funding is available through the EU's common agricultural policy to help young farmers set up and develop their business. Support is available for farmers starting up businesses who are 40 or under at the time of applying, and can be granted for up to five years.

Young farmers are encouraged by additional support from the CAP's direct paymentsSearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN•••: national authorities have to set aside up to 2% of their total allocation of direct payment funding in order to offer young farmers a bonus of 25% (maximum) on their direct payments in their first five years of working in the sector. Young farmers also have priority when it comes to receiving direct payment funding from the national/regional reserve.

In addition, CAP rural development programmesSearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN••• (RDP) in each EU countrySearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN••• often provide additional measures to help young farmers get started. This includes advice services for farmers setting up for the first time. See how one young Hungarian farmer set up her own businessSearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN•••  with help from various EU schemes.

National or regional rural development programmesSearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN•••

Encouragement comes in other forms as well – for example, young farmers are seen as more likely to look to innovation to help develop their businesses. A number of programmes run by the European Innovation Partnership (EIP- AGRISearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN•••) are designed to help encourage the take-up of innovative techniques for increasing output and reducing costs, for example. (Read the interview "Innovation for young European farmers" for more information).

What do young farmers need?

An EU wide surveySearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN••• carried out in 2013 of more than 2 000 farmers under 40 years shows that after access to land to buy or to rent, what they need most is financial support (subsidies), access to credit and sufficient qualified labour. Needs, however, vary from countrySearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN••• to country, as a separate report shows.

Brochure: Young farmers and the CAPSearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN•••

Agriculture in Europe: what is the future?

Agriculture is the most ancient economic activity of human beings, therefore it’s commonly identified as a traditional sector and – unfortunately – very often considered a static sector, unable to actively enhance the economic and social development of our countries. Nevertheless, agriculture embodies a strong dynamism and will have to face, within the next years, many relevant and rapid changes due to external factors that are changing even more rapidly. This phenomenon involves global agriculture, but is particularly sensitive within the European Union.

Particular attention should be paid to EU enlargement, the launching of a new regional policy for the Mediterranean region, the progressive trade liberalization and the evolution of CAP.

I believe that Europe is currently facing a challenge where the opportunities outweigh the difficulties. The role of European farming is changing. Globalization, new regulations, competitive advantages, concern for animal welfare and environmental protection, rural development, consumer rights, are actually different aspects of a new role of farmers in rural areas.

Rural development – one of the most important innovations of the Common Agricultural Policy in recent years – should be seen as an additional instrument to increase efficiency of our agriculture and to enforce the link between competitiveness and new consumer’s demand. In this framework, where competition is evolving, the ideas and strategies behind the support to the sector change together with the needs of the consumers. The new CAP, must therefore answer to the evolving different needs of rural areas.

Multifunctionality, as well as products quality, has a complex meaning, including a variety of factors, both economic and cultural. Agricultural activity has a direct impact on the territory, the environment and human society with its culture.

According to our experience, the mere presence of agriculture in a particular area does not always imply positive effects, since in some specific cases highly-intensive production systems can produce some environmental problems. It is only by integrating into our agricultural policy a strong environmental component that the multifunctional nature of agriculture can show all its potential. But this is only one of the issues to be addressed.

Today the farmer has to directly face the market and all the multiple requirements of society. The core issue is the following: how to let agricultural enterprises adjust the need for environmental safeguard, food security, balanced development, animal welfare to competitiveness of our productions and their capability to face the challenges of international market.

The CAP is no longer a sectorial policy: it involves many different fields of our life and it is a policy for all citizens, for their food security and also for the areas where they live and work in. For this reason, agriculture cannot be treated like any other industrial sectors.

Over the years, the CAP has adapted to economic and social changes, and must continue this way, responding to the general demands of politics and economy on one hand, and the needs of agricultural markets on the other hand.

Other good reasons for an evolving CAP are to be found in the features of farm enterprises, the territory in which they operate, the products and their cultural and social roots.

The advanced globalization of trade and the trend towards higher standards of food safety and security should push the CAP in dynamic evolution.

A new vision of public intervention in agriculture is needed today. The pillar of the future CAP should be to focus on quality productions, not as an end in itself, but as a means for a more efficient competition. Indeed, the European model of agriculture is not only an answer to the needs of European citizens, but it can also be considered a tool for competition: quality is thus the first foundation for our policies.

The concept of quality is rather complex, and includes food security, hygiene, typical products, matching the taste of consumers, biological integrity, the link with the territory, traditions, culture and so on.

Food quality can be seen as the great asset for Europeans for facing future global competition in the agribusiness market. In the last decade this strategy has already proved to be fruitful. The times when the European Union was a strong exporter of agricultural commodities are coming to an end, and the best opportunity for the EU Countries are linked to the ability to widely establish the high quality of their products. The EU is well-placed to prevail in this competition, as the main features of the European agribusiness system (traditions, human endeavour and favourable environmental factors) are already well-developed.

A further challenge at this point is: since the liberalization of foreign trade is a must, how can we match the defence of the agro food heritage of this continent to the need of a competitive European agriculture?

But the new CAP must both confirm the particular qualities of the European agribusiness system, the link to the environment, and follow the progressive opening to world trade, otherwise it will certainly not win the approval of either producers, consumers or international public opinion.

The challenge will only be faced by rejecting protectionism, while linking the liberalization of trade to mechanisms that will make sure the standards of quality and security, and also the regulations can be shared by the various players in European market.

It is clear that combining the challenge of competition in the global markets with support for the multi-functionality of agriculture and society needs proper policies. We have to identify and implement public intervention initiatives not distorting the markets and able to be useful to reinforce the environmental and social functions of the farming sector.

Competition is also based on the compliance with common rules: our farmers should comply with clear requirements on food security, environment, animal welfare and so on. Also our competitors trading in our markets should comply with the same requirements.

Today, farmers are more than ever, exposed to risk concerning the variability of their income. This is probably one of the points on which initiatives should be planned in order to make with more effectiveness, taking into account the inclusion of risk-management tools in the Green Box.

I would like to underline that a general debate should begin, not only within EU Member States, but also among the main world agricultural players, which can lead to an internationally shared vision of future choices in agriculture.

I think that time has come for crucial topics for the future of agriculture to be also discussed at a wider international political level. The outcome of these international debates, some important conclusions could inspire the decision-making of technical bodies, avoiding conflicting negotiations affecting agriculture of the EU Countries and of our partners worldwide.

Going to the conclusions, there is no country in the world not having its own independent agricultural policy. Political conditions can be very different, and so the approaches adopted, the intervention measures applied and the total resources available can also be very different but markets globalization is obliging CAP to be more and more globalized and we all have to give a right answer to our farmers!

L’agricoltura nella Costituzione italiana

Le finalità della norma costituzionale riguardante l’agricoltura sono due: “conseguire il razionale sfruttamento del suolo” e stabilire “equi rapporti sociali”.

Con il linguaggio di oggi, tali scopi si possono così enucleare: “curare la qualità del paesaggio” e “assicurare una vita dignitosa a ciascun essere umano”. Per raggiungere i due fini, sono poi elencati, a titolo esemplificativo e non esaustivo, alcuni strumenti: fissare obblighi e vincoli alla proprietà terriera privata e porre limiti alla sua estensione, imporre la bonifica delle terre e la trasformazione del latifondo, riconoscere l’importanza della piccola e media proprietà terriera, sostenere e valorizzare la montagna. Spetta al  legislatore sostituire nel tempo questi strumenti o aggiungerne altri a piacimento per conseguire i due scopi che restano i valori di fondo che la Costituzione intende proteggere.

prendersi cura della qualità del paesaggio e assicurare una vita dignitosa ad ogni essere umano.

All’agricoltura non è, dunque, assegnata dalla Carta costituzionale una generica funzione sociale, ma tale funzione deve essere esplicata assolvendo due compiti specifici.

il paesaggio assume, infatti, un nuovo significato. Non è più un insieme intangibile di bellezze naturali, come è stato considerato dalla legislazione italiana fin dagli inizi del Novecento, ma diventa – in sorprendente sintonia con il pensiero, per molti versi ignorato dal dibattito pubblico su questi temi, di un grande studioso della storia del paesaggio agrario italiano, Emilio Sereni  – espressione del patrimonio culturale e naturale e tratto identitario delle popolazioni insediate nei diversi territori, elaborazione umana dei dati ambientali, riflesso fisico di un determinato sistema di rapporti sociali che ogni generazione lascia in eredità a quelle che seguono

In sostanza, la Convenzione è portatrice di un concetto di paesaggio che unifica la dimensione produttiva con quella culturale, territoriale e ambientale e rimanda alla necessità di una strumentazione pianificatoria e programmatoria fortemente integrata.