The CAP is... is not...
Date: 2009-10-13
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development
Subjects: common agricultural policy, information

What does the CAP 
do for me? 

•  We can rely on the CAP to supply our food  even in 
times of global shortages and high prices.
•  The EU enforces tough rules to ensure the food we eat 
is safe, and sets high standards for animal welfare.
•  The CAP plays a major role in preserving Europe's 
unique  rural  heritage  and  in  protecting  the 
environment. 
•  The CAP helps to maintain aff ordable food. Today the 
average EU household devotes 15% of its expenditure 
to food. In 1960 it was twice as much - 30%.

•  Farmers are more competitive. They  now produce 
what the market wants and consumers need.  
•  The EU safeguards food quality and safety via  clear 
labelling rules, regulations on animal and plant health, 
control of pesticide residues and additives in food. 

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Farmers provide us with quality food at aff  ordable prices. The 
common agricultural policy (CAP) plays a key role in making this 
happen. It also helps preserve Europe’s unique rural heritage and 
protect the environment and animal welfare. 

It was created to overcome food shortages and to guarantee food 
supplies. Mission accomplished. One side eff  ect of the CAP was 
overproduction. But surpluses have largely been eliminated. 

Taxpayers’ money is spent carefully and wisely. The EU works hard 
to promote fair world trade in farm goods.

To fi nd out more:
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture

European Commission
Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/

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The CAP is...

is not...

European Commission
Agriculture and Rural Development

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The CAP has moved 
with the times

•  Price support systems encouraged 
farmers to produce more than we 
needed.
•  The  result  was  surpluses  (butter, 
cereals, beef and wine). They cost a 
lot to store and to dispose of.
•  Subsidies to sell surpluses on world 
markets  were  seen  negatively  by 
some developing countries. 
•  The  EU  had  high  import  tariff s  to 
protect European agriculture from 
cheap imports from abroad.

The situation has shifted dramatically 
in recent years, thanks to far-reaching 
reforms to the CAP. 

Today the CAP refl ects the changing 
needs  and  expectations  of  both 
agriculture and society as a whole.  

Some praise the CAP and some 
criticise it. The CAP was a success 
because it attained its initial goals 
to guarantee food supplies, since 
its creation in 1962. But problems 
occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. 
This is what happened:

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Common 
misunderstandings

The caricature of the CAP as a wasteful and costly way to 
protect ineffi  cient European farmers is misleading. 
New realities replace old stories. 
Let’s look at a few.

1.  Does the CAP waste 
taxpayers’ money?

The CAP spends money to promote quality and safe 
food for us all, while respecting the environment, 
plant health, animal health and welfare. It is the 
only  policy  funded  mainly  from  the  EU  budget. 
European spending replaces national spending. If 
there were no CAP, individual Member States would 
still subsidise their farmers.

About 1 % of public spending in Europe goes to 
agriculture. Other policies cost much more, but are 
paid for out of national treasuries. 

2.  Does the CAP create a 
welfare dependency 
among farmers?

Thanks to recent reforms of the CAP, income support 
payments to farmers no longer depend on what, 
or how much, is produced.Instead, they are linked 
to tough standards of  environment, food safety 
and quality and animal welfare. Price support now 
operates  only  in  real  crises.  Therefore,  farmers 
compete to sell what the market wants.  

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3.  Does the CAP 

encourage farming 
methods that harm the 
environment?

Higher production no longer means higher subsidies. 
In fact, if farmers fail to meet a range of environmental 
standards, their income support payments are cut. At 
least a quarter of Rural Development spending must 
go towards environmental projects. In addition, the 
farm sector is already doing its bit to combat global 
warming with big cuts in its emissions of CO2 and 
other greenhouse gases. 

4.  Do subsidised exports 
and high tariff  s on 
imports harm Third 
World farmers?

The  EU  has  cut  import  duties  on  farm  products 
from developing countries. For the 50 poorest, all 
their exports, except military hardware, enter the 
EU duty-free. 

Recent reforms of the CAP have dramatically cut 
the use of export subsidies. The EU has pledged to 
phase out export subsidies if other large agricultural 
producers will do the same. 

5.  Has the EU set rules on 
the size and shape of 
products? 

Quality and labelling standards ensure that consumers 
across the EU’s single market buy products which 
meet the same high requirements. However the 
EU has repealed most marketing standards for fruit 
and vegetables. In the few cases where they remain, 
shops will be able to sell non-standard products 
as long as they are labelled appropriately (e.g. "for 
cooking"). In times of high food prices, it makes sense 
to market good products even if they are not the 
standard size and shape.

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