conditionality Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

A Not So Common Agricultural Policy and A Mega MF(F)ing Fund – What’s Cooking in the New CAP?

July 21, 2025 Natasha Foote

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 in the MF(F)-ing hell just happened, you’re certainly not the only one. Here Natasha Foote unpacks some first takeaways and why it has so far gone down like a sack of manure. […]

Impact and Opportunities of the 2023-27 CAP Reform in Denmark

June 12, 2024 ARC

In the report that accompanies this article, CONCITO analyses the implementation of the 2023-27 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform after its first year of implementation, using Denmark as a case study. The focus lies on examining the new components of the reform, namely the New Delivery Model (NDM), the enhanced conditionality, and the eco-schemes, and their contribution towards both the European Union (EU) and national objectives concerning climate, biodiversity, and the environment. Recommendations are also made for improved delivery. […]

EU CAPitulates on Green Farming Measures

March 20, 2024 Natasha Foote

The European Commission has officially put forward plans to slash environmental measures in the EU’s farming subsidy programme and offer up more power to member states in deciding the future course of the policy. Natasha Foote reports. […]

The Re-Opening of CAP’s Black Box Could Be Coming – And Soon

February 27, 2024 Natasha Foote

The core acts of the EU’s farming subsidy programme could soon be once again up for grabs, with ministers backing a re-opening of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in efforts to make it lean and less green. Natasha Foote has more. […]

Nitrogen – Just Fix it! CAP’s Nature & Rotation Rules Under Threat

July 4, 2022 ARC

Crop rotations and space for nature are again under threat, as pressure mounts on basic conditionality in the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Under the pretext of the impact of the War in Ukraine, it has emerged that the European Commission and 16 member states are prepared to allow such exemptions from the basic environmental standards to be continued for beyond the initial 12 months proposed. […]

CAP Reform | No Change of System Apparent

October 28, 2020 Sebastian Lakner

Can a cash-strapped EU afford to lock itself into a dysfunctional agricultural policy? In the wake of the new positions on CAP reform agreed by the Council and European Parliament last week, Sebastian Lakner unpacks some crucial elements – and finds a lack of vision, ambition and courage. […]

For the Sake of Nature and the Climate, Europe must not CAP its Ambitions

April 9, 2020 ARC

The European Commission continues to describe the Common Agricultural Policy as “ambitious”, yet its own evaluation of the CAP’s impact reveals that the farm subsidy scheme is inflicting massive damage on Europe’s biodiversity, water resources and nature. In this in-depth feature, Célia Nyssens of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) explains why the CAP is not fit for purpose and outlines how it can be reformed. […]

Alan Matthews on the Current CAP Process | Part 1

January 4, 2020 Oliver Moore

Alan Matthews runs the CAPreform.eu blog, one of the best and most consistent sources of up to date, detailed analysis of all things CAP. Here we present part one from an interview between our own Oliver Moore and Professor Matthews. Part one is broad and introductory, looking at what the Commission has proposed and potential pitfalls. Part two is more specific and related to Matthews’ home country of Ireland. […]

Future of CAP – is the Commission ambitious or backsliding?

June 8, 2018 ARC

Here we round up some recent perspectives on the Commission’s CAP proposal. This includes a summary of the 18 months of work that went into the document(s), concern over capping backsliding, a briefing on conditionality, which member states want to keep the cash as it was, and an Urgenci (CSA) and Birdlife perspective. […]