Towards the CAP 2014–2020

The discussion on agricultural policy for the period 2014–2020 starts with a major threat of shrinking agricultural spending. It is indeed foreseen that a budget review will be carried out before 2009, including (above all) agricultural expenditure. In fact, the budget will be reduced in comparison to the previous 7-year period, although much less than feared. The budget debate will also be an opportunity for the Central and Eastern European MSs to demand a redistribution of the overall allocation for their agriculture. This will be pursued with the so-called ‘external convergence’, aimed at bringing the per-hectare allocations for direct payments closer to the European average. The ‘Europe 2020’ strategy document proposes that EU policies be oriented towards innovation and sustainability. While the Commission’s proposals for the CAP 2014–2020 affirm in their declarations of intent to pursue an agricultural policy oriented towards smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth, they confirm the intention to maintain a CAP centred on the direct payments system. Such a choice, which is also shared by the Commission for Agriculture of the European Parliament, is opposed by several authoritative voices. This orientation is at the expense of the second pillar of the CAP, the rural development pillar, whose percentage weight in the CAP budget decreases for the first time since its creation.