Latest articles
-
As the tractors roll back into the streets of Brussels and London, it feels an opportune moment to reflect on the state of food, farming and the environment across Europe, and to contemplate — at [...] -
Rollbacks in Brussels overshadowed Europe’s presence at COP30 in Belém, while Indigenous movements, civil society and frontrunner nations pushed forward plans for agroecology, plant-rich diets and fair climate transitions. Investigative researcher and reporter Rachel Sherrington [...] -
Three years on from Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian farmers are still struggling to navigate the lasting legacy of the occupation in Europe’s breadbasket. With the relationship between the EU and the war-torn country set to deepen [...] -
Brussels is still sifting through the wreckage of the budget bombshell the European Commission dropped in July. As the dust settles, one question looms large: who wins, and who’s left behind? In this ARC2020 mini-series, [...] -
On the back of yet another green light for a fresh batch of ‘simplification’ plans, ARC2020’s Natasha Foote explores how deep this latest round cuts into the roots of the CAP and sustainability rules, and [...] -
We promised a budgetary bombshell, and that’s exactly what dropped in Brussels last week. With a (not so) ‘Common’ Agricultural Policy, the Commission has juddered into a new direction — and if you’re wondering what [...] -
The European Commission is preparing to tear up the architecture of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in what could set the stage for a radical overhaul of the EU’s farming subsidy programme, according to leaked [...] -
Buckle up – July is shaping up to be a blockbuster month for the EU agrifood sector. In a double-whammy move, the European Commission is set to unveil not one but two major proposals on [...] -
A few weeks ago, I came to a shocking realisation. After 6 years of writing about the ins and outs of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – the politics, the people, the policy, the [...] -
The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is once again being trimmed down to size, with the Commission reaching for the shears in an attempt to cut back what it sees as an overgrown subsidy programme. [...] -
Leaner but not greener with a new era of flexibility and power to member states – these are some of the changes on the menu for the EU’s new plan to simplify the Common Agricultural [...] -
Pesticides deemed too toxic for Europe are still being produced here and sold abroad to be sprayed on fields where farm workers live, work, and raise their children – but these are also fields that [...] -
A simpler, streamlined EU farming subsidy programme can only be a good thing … right? Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Here, Natasha Foote digs into what we currently know about the next [...] -
Tough on trade, but more lax on CAP – that’s a quick summary of the EU’s new blueprint for agriculture and food, according to a leaked draft that ARC2020 got its hands on. So what’s [...] -
Competitiveness is the key word of this new Von der Leyen Commission 2.0 – and the EU’s new ‘Competitive Compass’ is supposed to steer it onto a path towards security and economic prosperity. But far [...] -
CAP implementation faces challenges such as complex governance, insufficient capacity, and obstacles to evidence-based policymaking. Poor coordination between national and regional authorities often disconnects policies from local needs, while limited expertise hinders implementation. The Tools4CAP [...] -
Ukraine is on our screens every day. Still the countryside and its people mainly appear either as victims of war or as soldiers – not as citizens, workers or farmers. When it comes to its [...] -
New CAP Strategic Plans have been prepared and implemented since 2023 in all EU member states. Are they helping progress values of fairness, as enshrined in both CAP and other EU legislation? Here we summarise [...] -
The EU’s recent decision to tax Russian cereals over Ukrainian ones, and the maintenance of solidary lanes with Ukraine despite protests, highlights the relationship between policy and geopolitical tensions. So where next for the CAP? [...] -
The last few months have been a rollercoaster ride for the EU’s farming subsidy programme, which has seen its green ambitions sacrificed on the altar of food security and politics. As this mandate comes to [...] -
There have been massive protests by farmers in many European countries in recent months. Depending on the country, different agricultural policy issues have played a role. Hannes Lorenzen, President of ARC2020, on the state and [...] -
The project CAP Strategic Plans co-organised by ARC2020 with the Good Food Good Farming network is now completing its fourth year since its launch in 2020. 2023 can be seen as the end of a [...] -
As has become very familiar in recent months, another opportunity to better integrate CAP and the pledges of the European Green Deal is being missed. Instead of watering down the ambition, this time the mainstream [...] -
Are subsidies provided to farmers in the EU generating deforestation in Brazil? Or the decline of pastoral communities in Sahel? In this article, we shed light on the CAP’s implications beyond the EU, focusing on [...] -
In a new CAP that largely maintains the status quo, social conditionality emerges as one of the few truly innovative elements. But is it going to be a real game-changer? This new legislative tool has [...] -
Did the Commission breach its own laws by approving the French CAP Strategic Plan? According to Collectif Nourrir and ClientEarth, it did! After their internal request for an internal review of the approval of the [...] -
Now that the CAP Strategic Plans are approved and running, is the CAP really fairer? Read our report «“A Fairer CAP”, Really?». […] -
EU Agriculture is in crisis mode. And so is the CAP. For two years in a row, the CAP crisis reserve has been spent to help farmers deal with the adverse consequences of the invasion [...]
-
Looking at the CAP, 2022 and 2023 have been marked by multiple authorised derogations on environmental standards. Those derogations, claimed to be necessary to ensure food security in Europe, have been highly criticised by the [...] -
The struggle to cap and redistribute direct payments received by the largest landowners, to support smaller farms, thereby enabling a more divers and resilient rurality, has come up against the whole financial system in Denmark. [...] -
Carbon Farming is the new hype in agriculture. A proposal for a Certification Framework of Carbon Removals was proposed back in November by the Commission and there is a strong push by the Swedish presidency [...] -
Although the CAP Strategic Plans have been approved and are now being implemented, they are not closed files. Once a year, amendments can be proposed by Member States and, under specific conditions, other adaptations can [...] -
We present our proposal for an integrated Rural and Agricultural Policy. “Rural Europe Takes Action – No more business as usual” ends with an unwritten regulation: the #CAP of the future. So, what is it about [...] -
The German CAP Strategic Plan has the potential for an ambitious CAP 2023 to 2027. While the debate on the next CAP post-2027 is already starting, in this article we argue that the German government [...] -
Our book “Rural Europe Takes Action – No more business as usual” ends with a mysterious unwritten regulation, the Common Agricultural Policy of the future. Only it is not. It is much broader than that. [...] -
The new funding period of the Common Agricultural Policy has begun. The EU member states, including Germany, have all developed National Strategic Plans to implement the new EU requirements. However, as the following article shows, [...] -
The Czech CAP Stragic Plan has now been approved by the European Commission. Agricultural associations had been protesting against the proposed 23% share of direct payments. Terezie Daňková, a Czech farmer from South Bohemia, helps [...] -
As the last CAP Strategic Plan (Netherlands) has been approved, we launch a report summarising the key aspects of the CAP Strategic Plans approval process that started a year ago. This report is a collection [...] -
EU agri-food products protected by quality schemes can face counterfeiting and usurpations in third countries, resulting in significant economic losses for EU producers. The same can happen in the other direction, and with the expansion [...] -
The European commission presented a new regulation on the sustainable use of plant protection products. This regulation is a long awaited response to the insufficient results of the Sustainable Use of Pesticide Directive (SUD) that [...] -
In two letters obtained by ARC2020, the Environment and Climate wings of the European Commission (DG ENV and DG CLIMA) point to an almost complete lack of effort by the national capitals to integrate any [...] -
In a context of war and spiking food prices, a series of observation letters, meetings, and negotiations between the Commission and Member States are shaping the future national CAP Strategic Plans. Are these negotiations going [...] -
Here you’ll find the Observation Letter to Wallonia’s CAP Strategic Plan which ARC2020 has obtained. In no less than 210 points, the Commission exposes a lack of strategy towards healthy, sustainable and economically viable food [...] -
CAP Strategic Plans and Food Security: Fallow Lands, Feeds, and Transitioning the Livestock Industry
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has sparked a debate on food security in Europe. Here, we set things straight on the derogation to allow production on fallow land, analyse the state of grain production [...] -
Trade liberalisation enforced by the WTO, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and several bilateral trade agreements largely contributed to the current economic instability in agriculture, but also to the climate and biodiversity crises. Family farmers [...] -
Why has the CAP been historically problematic for farmers’ economic sustainability, biodiversity and the environment, in the EU and the Global South? We explore historical choices regarding trade and CAP that led our agriculture towards [...] -
The Society for Territorial and Environmental Prosperity (STEP) believes that Bulgaria’s CAP Strategic Plan must be corrected in order to be in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal, the EU’s Biodiversity and [...] -
Changes in the CAP strategic Plan submitted by Ireland are “required”. In the Observation Letter sent to Ireland – which you can download below – there are a number of areas the European Commission has [...] -
On March 31st, all 19 Member States that submitted their CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs) by the 1st January deadline received their awaited Observation Letters (OLs). In this article we discuss the implications of the Commission [...] -
Soaring grain prices, alongside gas, oil, fertilizers and pesticides, have sparked an unexpected debate on food production in the EU. A dependent and completely overexposed agricultural system has brought with it fear of food insecurity. [...]