Ten years of the Common Agricultural Policy in the European Union have failed to stop the decline in biodiversity, let alone improve or expand it.
Tens of billions of EU funds have only had a limited braking effect on biodiversity loss, according to a study by the EU Court of Auditors.
In particular, the impact of direct payments to farmers on reducing loss is considered minimal. Furthermore, the European Commission and EU countries often prefer measures with little effect, the Court of Auditors notes. Moreover, all those biodiversity targets were formulated with little ‘monitorability.’
As a result, species diversity on agricultural land continues to decline. Since 1990, populations of arable and meadow birds and grassland butterflies (a good indicator of changes) have dropped by more than 30 percent. The variety of small mammals, insects, and natural vegetation has also decreased. Intensive agriculture remains a major cause of this deterioration, the European Court of Auditors states in the report published on Friday.
Over the past seven years, the European Commission has allocated nearly one hundred billion euros for biodiversity, of which three-quarters came through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget. But these expenditures have little effect, and the way the European Commission monitors spending is unreliable. The Court of Auditors’ inspectors established this after audit visits to Cyprus, Germany, Ireland, Poland, and Romania.
Biodiversity and the role of agriculture are again topical subjects because decisions soon need to be made about (the financing of) new EU policies. The new Green Deal policy will combine Climate, Environment, Food, Health, and Biodiversity, about half of which is also relevant for agriculture.
“The Common Agricultural Policy has proven insufficient to counter biodiversity loss on agricultural land,” said Court of Auditors member Viorel Stefan. In response, the European Commission acknowledged that the tens of billions via agricultural funds have achieved little for biodiversity but also emphasized that better agreements are being prepared within the Green Deal and Farm to Fork initiatives.
Chair of the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament, Norbert Lins, labeled the report as ‘political and ideological,’ as it does not take into account the current CAP negotiations and progress already made. “Other causes such as urbanization, construction, and soil sealing must also be addressed to halt biodiversity loss,” said Lins.
According to Greenpeace, the report once again shows that blindly paying per hectare, while ignoring how the land is farmed, can be disastrous for nature. Attempts to green the current CAP have become negligible. The organization calls for scrapping the system of direct payments per hectare and paying farmers based on the benefits they provide to society and the environment.