Common Agriculture Policy

Corncrake in iris bed, Tiree, Scotland
Species like the corncrake are sensitive to changes in farming methods.

Since its inception, the CAP has promoted production through market intervention and direct subsidy. This has encouraged over-production and intensification to the detriment of the environment and developing countries.

The 2003 Fischler reforms introduced the important principle of decoupling subsidy from production, switching off over-production and freeing farmers from chasing subsidies.

CAP reform also introduced cross-compliance, whereby farmers must meet minimum environmental, welfare and safety standards in order to receive their payments, and modulation, whereby a proportion of subsidy money is shifted to the Rural Development budget to pay for agri-environment and rural development schemes.

Decoupling is expected to lead to environmental benefits as land which was inappropriately intensively managed reverts to more extensive systems. For example, over-grazing by sheep is expected to decrease. However, some economically marginal systems with benefits for the environment, such as extensive beef grazing, are also expected to decline.

The CAP is one of the most criticised common policies of the Union because of the evident links between its application and the loss of birds and other wildlife

Cross-compliance is important to establish environmental accountability for all farmers, but will not deliver more than legal standards and good farming practice. It does not mean that all agriculture payments are now made in return for looking after the environment, but it does mean that land managers who breach the law will lose part of their subsidy.

The UK is shifting more money to rural development than other Member States (10% instead of 5%). The RSPB welcomes this as a far-sighted move, although it still does not provide enough resources to meet all the environmental commitments and objectives for farmland.

The CAP is one of the most criticised common policies of the Union because of the evident links between its application and the loss of birds and other wildlife. The system of incentives to intensify agriculture in particular has been recognised by many as the main mechanism responsible for the severe decline of many farmland bird species over the last three decades.

The Common Agricultural Policy is financed by the taxpayers of the European Community and half of the total budget of the EU is devoted to it - over £30 billion each year. Each taxpayer pays £80 to contribute to its existence.

The RSPB has worked hard to influence previous reforms of the CAP. We are calling for further CAP reform to move the entire budget into a single rural fund, which supports both farming and rural communities and wildlife.

Last modified: 13 June 2005

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