Re-building the CAP to address our global challenges

Andres M Dominguez The EU must bring radical reforms to the CAP. Zoom In

Spain will have a key role to play in animating the debate on the future of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in the run up to a Communication of the European Commission on the post 2013-CAP, expected in the second half of 2010. Agriculture provides pressures but also solutions for some of the great challenges of our time: halting the collapse of biodiversity, mitigating climate change and adapting to its consequences, dealing with the looming water crises and ensuring our long term food production capacity.

To address these challenges, the EU must bring radical reform to the CAP, bring it in line with current stated objectives and refocus it on rewarding farmers for the delivery of well defined public goods. While this transition needs to be carefully managed it is time to give the farming sector a clear long-term perspective.

Under the Spanish Presidency:

• The Presidency and other EU governments should engage in an open and wide-ranging debate on the CAP objectives and tools, with the aim of crafting a new sustainable policy capable of delivering on EU objectives and ensuring real value for taxpayers’ money.
• The European Commission should elaborate a bold CAP reform proposal overcoming the current inefficiencies, thus justifying EU investment in agriculture and land management.
• The Commission, Member States and the European Parliament must put environmental challenges and the need to build sustainability into our food system at the heart of the debate on the future of the CAP.