Press Release: New study on “Public Goods provided by Agriculture in the European Union”

The Common Agricultural Policy plays a critical role in helping farmers to deliver environmental goods and services, provided that policies are targeted in the right way. This is the key message of a report published on 25 January 2010 for DG Agriculture and Rural Development by the Institute for European Environmental Policy. The report is a first ever attempt to identify the full range of environmental public goods provided by farmers across Europe and sets out the arguments for paying for their delivery via the public purse.

The study identifies a wide range of diverse environmental and social public goods that are provided by European farmers, including valued cultural landscapes; farmland birds, such as the globally threatened Great Bustard and Imperial Eagle; and the species-rich meadows that are found across Europe. In addition, farmers manage the land for carbon storage and help to maintain high quality water and soils. The results of this study come at a time when the debate about the future of the CAP is intensifying and when the objectives and priorities of the CAP for the period after 2013 are being discussed. The study concludes that a well targeted policy, with clear objectives and sufficient budgetary resources, will be essential to ensure the delivery of public goods in line with society's expectations.

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