The European Commission opened a Consultation on the modernisation of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). CONCORD Europe sent its recommendations and called for policy coherence for sustainable development to be strengthened. Read our reply.
Initially developed in the early sixties, the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has undergone several waves of reforms – the latest one of which was decided in 2013 and implemented in 2015. Since then, the context has changed significantly. Against this new background, the European Commission believes that “the CAP must be modernised, simplified, and made even more coherent with other EU policies to maximise its contribution to the ten Commission Priorities and the Sustainable Development Objectives.” The Commission thus decided to carry out a public consultation on the simplification and modernisation of the CAP.
CONCORD Europe has decided to answer this consultation, focusing especially on issues related to Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD). Indeed, it is no secret that the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy strongly impacts not only on the EU but also on developing countries in other parts of the world. CONCORD thus put forward some important recommendations, notably regarding direct payments, export refunds, meat consumption and feed imports.
The results of this consultation will in turn contribute to an impact assessment on the modernisation of the CAP. The outcome should be presented before the end of 2017 in a Communication from the Commission.
Find the reply below and more importantly the recommendations at the end of the document which we invite you to share widely.
Our recommendations have also been gathered in an article published on the Living Land website, website dedicated to the WWF campaign.