Reforming the Common Agricultural Policy: Challenges Ahead for the EU’s Green Ambitions
Introduction
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been a major part of the EU budget since its inception in the Treaty of Rome over 60 years ago. It remains a key facet of European food security and source of tension to this day. The 2023 reforms highlighted a need for stronger green ambitions, while also increasing the competitiveness of European farmers in a competitive global trade environment. However, changing targets and aims have created new challenges for the policy. The CAP was initially a subsidiary rather than regulatory body, meaning that yet another increase in conditionality has added to discontent readily expressed by food producers (Matthews, 2024, p.83). Moreover, these reforms were vulnerable to geopolitical currents which now threaten their relevance. In particular, the Russian invasion of Ukraine created an increase in fertiliser and energy prices that are yet to recover, due to Russian and Belarusian exports remaining absent from European markets (Hebebrand and Glauber, 2023). With political demand for price stability, there is a risk of making it more difficult to strike a balance between the economic needs of nations and the ecological targets that the EU has strived for with the previous set of reforms.
A New Council Leadership
The 2025 trio of presidencies for the Council of the European Union (Poland, Cyprus and Denmark) has engaged in an 18-month strategic agenda aiming to “continue to ensure food security and fair incomes for farmers, and will strive to improve the position of farmers … in the food supply chain” (Council of the European Union, 2024, p.5) in response to the digital and green transitions. Particular attention has been given to “bridging the gap between agriculture and climate activism, with a commitment to competitiveness and a practical climate framework” (European Economic and Social Committee, 2025). Environmental objectives have crept into the CAP system over the last 20 years, making it unsurprising that these policies have emerged. However, some suggest that the negative economic impacts of pursuing these policies have been overlooked (Barral and Detang-Dessendre, 2023, p.48), and thus dialogue has become more pessimistic.
This policy direction has been repeated in other EU spheres. The European Commission’s ‘Vision for Agriculture and Food’ also highlights an agenda aiming to boost the sector’s competitiveness. It is fascinating because these reforms put greater emphasis on insecurity as a threat to European interests. In response, the strategy is to “ease the administrative burden of farmers” (Siekierski, 2025). The need to cater to livelihoods rather than to directly pursue economic and green development suggests that the policy may have been mismanaged. Smaller farmers have been put under greater pressure by regulatory requirements due to bureaucracy. While the 2023 reforms introduced financial caps on large farms, the litany of climate- and community-focused targets have sparked national-level protests in countries such as France (RFI, 2025), as these restrictions have made access to funding more complex. Protests also highlight the issue of competition. Competing exports, particularly Ukrainian producers, have created a new threat to local economies by increasing competition with countries that face fewer regulatory restrictions than demanded in Europe. With higher regulatory standards, farmers have been at the receiving end of these pressures, leading Polish farmers to take to the streets.
The policy direction highlighted by the Commission and the Polish presidency therefore tries to retain its position as pursuing climate consciousness in a new digital age, but the focus on farmers’ needs highlights that there are implicit economic challenges that might need prioritisation in the short term.
The prior reforms enforced the legal conditionality and statutory management requirements and bolstered them with more GAEC’s and voluntary ecoschemes which are tied to funding (Boix-Fayos and De Vente, 2023, p.5). However, with a discoursive shift towards protection of European farmers, there is a potential threat to the recent green ambitions because of the threat of food insecurity.
Public Attitudes
Thus far, consideration has been given to the views of farmers and lawmakers. The public also plays a crucial role in the shift towards food security. When asked whether the current financial support provided by the CAP (30% of total EU budget) was sufficient, countries found this level to be agreeable.
Around 50% of those surveyed felt that 30% was sufficient in all but four countries (Greece, Latvia, Malta and Portugal). Only in Denmark and the Netherlands did a sizeable portion find the current rate too high. The data suggests that agricultural funding is valued, and the public has a tendency to lean towards providing further support. However, prior percentages of total EU funding towards the CAP has exceeded 50% historically, so there may have been a time when prior funding was too high. This highlights that agriculture is valued by the public, who also may be sympathetic because they are sensitive to the impact of food insecurity and policy choices on prices. It therefore makes sense to expect another round of reforms, as there is a limited appetite for further support towards a green revolution when protests and higher food prices provide more urgent threats. Within this macro-economic environment, it is far more difficult to justify environmental concerns when food-insecurity is a real threat.
Conclusions
Constant reforms to the CAP have created an interesting environment in which long term targets have to adapt to short-term economic shocks, creating instability in the current strategy employed by the EU. While environmentally conscious food supplies remain a consumer concern, challenges surrounding competitiveness and rising living costs have become more significant. The 2025 trio of presidencies appears to try to appease these climate concerns, but puts greater emphasis on the economic challenges, demonstrating potential for future policy shifts that claim to pursue a green and digital age. However, in practice, farmer and public pressure is much more focused on the economic factors that are impacting livelihoods. This could shape the next round of CAP reforms away from prioritising green agriculture.
Bibliography
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