Understanding the costs of an environmentally ‘friendly’ common agricultural policy for the European Union¹1

Abstract

Part of the bedrock of the European Union's (EU's) Environmental Policy is the principle that those who pollute the environment should pay for the cost of remedying the damage they cause (the polluter pays principle) (Article 174 para. 2 TEC ex Article 130r TEC). In addition environmental objectives must be integrated into all the sectoral policies of the European Union (Article 6 TEC ex Article 3c TEC). The Common Agricultural Policy's (CAP's) role at the centre of the EU's sectoral policies would appear to make it an ideal focus for implementing Article 6 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC). If integration of environmental protection can be achieved in this central area of the EU's activities then a major source of environmental degradation could be overcome. However, if these requirements are applied to European agriculture the sector will face a budgetary and financial crisis of even greater magnitude than at the present time. Recent reforms of the CAP have been designed with the objective of achieving an agricultural sector that is moving towards sustainability. As this article argues the political, social and economic significance of the agriculture sector is such that national governments of the EU have repeatedly shied away from adopting the measures, which could significantly reduce the pollution from the sector. The proposals for reform made by the Agricultural Commissioner, Franz Fischler, were amended by the meeting of the European Council that took place in Berlin on 24/25 March 1999. These amendments substantially weakened the ambitions of the strategy for development of the EU, the ‘Agenda 2000’ adopted in 1997, for a number of reasons (CEC, 1997). This article examines the reasons for the disappointments with the amended reforms and speculates on the possible future path that may be taken to improve matters. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Towards Sustainable Agriculture? The EU framework and local adaptation in Sweden and Poland

“…Barnes and Barnes, 2001) The need to integrate environmental concerns, envisaged in the Single European Act of 1986, made its way to the agricultural policy sphere only a few years later, when in the spinoff of the outcomes of the 1992 Rio Summit, the need for environmental reform of the agricultural sector was officially acknowledged in Europe. At the inception in the founding Treaty of Rome in 1957, the CAP had the following objectives: the need to increase agricultural productivity by promoting technological progress; to ensure fair income and fair living standards for farmers, and to guarantee sufficient access to food for consumers at reasonable prices (now Article 39 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).…”

“…The original list of objectives is formally still valid (e.g. Barnes and Barnes, 2001) The need to integrate environmental concerns, envisaged in the Single European Act of 1986, made its way to the agricultural policy sphere only a few years later, when in the spinoff of the outcomes of the 1992 Rio Summit, the need for environmental reform of the agricultural sector was officially acknowledged in Europe. The 1992 CAP reform (the so called MacShary plan, see more in Cardwell, 2004 andUsher, 2001) was accompanied by agri-environmental and afforestation programmes and included a number of measures aiming to encourage less intensive production and reduction of market surpluses to alleviate environmental pressure.…”