Agriculture & Land Management

Our Work

The rationale for a future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is being hotly contested in advance of the 2013 reforms. Amongst the many positions being advanced by stakeholders is the argument that a future CAP should support farming in order to provide environmental and social ‘public goods’, as well as meeting objectives relating to food security and improving the sector’s competitiveness.

In 2009, IEEP undertook a comprehensive report for DG Agriculture on ‘The Provision of Public Goods by EU Agriculture’. The report develops the conceptual framework, and identifies the main public goods that are provided by agriculture in the EU, focusing on environmental public goods such as farmland biodiversity, cultural landscapes, high quality water, air and soil, a stable climate and resilience to fire and flooding. It examines the relationships between different farming systems and practices and different types of public goods, examines which CAP measures support public goods, and looks at the ways in which the public goods provided may change under various future policy scenarios.

Our work on public goods and agriculture continues through our contract with the European Network for Rural Development, who are animating a Thematic Working Group on Public Goods, involving officials and academics from a range of Member States. The work of the group aims to examine the contribution of rural development measures to supporting the provision of public goods, providing a catalogue of which measures have the potential to deliver public goods, as well as identifying the institutional and administrative success factors to improve delivery. The work is now entering a dissemination phase, with the production of a brochure aimed at interested stakeholders, and an international conference to be held in autumn 2010.

Our other work in this area includes:

Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation, addressing Soil Degradation in EU Agriculture IEEP is currently undertaking a project on the conservation of agricultural soils in the EU 27, for the Joint Research Council of the European Commission. This is part of a broader study being undertaken by the JRC for DG Agriculture in response to a request from the European Parliament. The SoCo Project examined the key soil conservation pressures, and the accompanying technical and policy responses, including analysis in ten regional case studies across Europe. IEEP wrote a comprehensive policy report, which synthesised the results from ten case studies and made recommendations for improved soil conservation policy and management across the European Union.

HNV full report

More about our work in this area...

Latest in Public Goods & Agriculture

  • Designing RDPs fit for the environment

    Substantial changes to rural development regulation have been proposed which provide significant opportunities for Member States to deliver more for the environment. This report highlights some of these opportunities and sets out a series of principles and environmental priorities to help guide Member States in designing their future rural development programmes.

  • Maximising environmental benefits through Ecological Focus Areas

    Of the three measures proposed to 'green' Pillar 1 direct payments, Ecological Focus Areas have the greatest potential to address a range of environmental concerns. How much of this potential is realised depends on a number of key factors discussed in this new IEEP report prepared at the request of the Land Use Policy Group.

  • Addressing the EU’s biodiversity goals through the CAP

    What is the relationship between the management of agricultural land and biodiversity? To what extent are the EU’s biodiversity goals addressed through the CAP?

  • Delivering Environmental Benefits through Ecological Focus Areas

    IEEP workshop on 6 March brought together a range of stakeholders to discuss possible environmental benefits through Ecological Focus Areas.

  • Redesigning the CAP to deliver public goods

    As a contribution to the CAP reform debate, this report considers options for redesigning the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to maximise the delivery of public goods, particularly in relation to the environment and rural vitality.

Highlights

  • Redesigning the CAP to deliver public goods

    As a contribution to the CAP reform debate, this report considers options for redesigning the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to maximise the delivery of public goods, particularly in relation to the environment and rural vitality.