The Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy - Analysis and consequences from the point of view of environmental and nature protection

The objective of the research project was to provide sound information and recommendations in order to integrate environmental and nature protection aspects into the agricultural policy reform. The study concentrated on the "first pillar" of the Common Agricultural Policy (market and price regulations). In order to link the scientific research as closely as possible to the ongoing political reform process, a working group of policy experts was set up to provide continuous consultation during the project. The results indicate that the Luxembourg agreements offer a range of opportunities for strengthening environmental and nature protection aspects in agriculture. In particular decoupling leads to a reduction of production incentives for farms, which are potentially overexploiting natural resources. The greatest challenge of the Luxembourg agreements is to maintain land use in less favoured areas. In the long-term it seems to be necessary to couple subsidies to a greater extent to enviromnental aspects.