The Special Status of Agriculture

The document analyzes the 'exceptionality' of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) compared to other EU laws, arguing that its governance, legislative processes, and funding mechanisms are designed to protect agricultural sectoral interests. It contends that the CAP fails to meaningfully incorporate environmental stakeholders, operates through non-standard legislative channels like the Special Committee on Agriculture, and lacks the strict environmental safeguards found in other EU funds, such as the Common Provision Regulation. The report specifically criticizes the 'greenwashing' of the COVID-19 recovery budget and the lack of legally binding links between the CAP and the European Green Deal.

• The CAP is described as a "compartmentalised" policy that fails to integrate competing interests and excludes environmental stakeholders from the design and implementation of national Strategic Plans.
• The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) operates as an exception to standard EU governance by bypassing the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), which normally ensures policy consistency.
• The drafting of national CAP Strategic Plans has occurred before the final adoption of the CAP Strategic Plans Regulation, which the report argues threatens democratic legitimacy and limits the power of co-legislators.
• CAP funding lacks the strict 'ex-ante conditionalities' or 'enabling conditions' found in the Common Provision Regulation (CPR) for other EU Structural and Investment Funds, meaning funds can be distributed without prior proof of environmental law compliance.
• The €7.5 billion COVID-19 recovery budget for rural development is governed by rules that allow Member States to lower their environmental ambitions through exceptions to the non-regression principle.
• Agriculture's recovery budget was specifically excluded from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), meaning it does not have to adhere to the 'Do No Significant Harm' principle.
• The distribution of CAP income support is highly skewed, with 80% of the funds going to the largest 20% of beneficiaries due to a payment system based on hectare size.
• The report identifies a misalignment between the CAP and the European Green Deal (EGD), noting that the EGD's Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies remain largely advisory because they lack a direct legal link to the CAP.

APA

Martin, S., & Fornabaio, L. (2021). The Special Status of Agriculture. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/rhdfzkav/the-special-status-of-agriculture-why-is-the-cap-an-exceptional-policy.pdf

Chicago

Martin, Sarah, and Lara Fornabaio. The Special Status of Agriculture. ClientEarth, 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/rhdfzkav/the-special-status-of-agriculture-why-is-the-cap-an-exceptional-policy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Martin |first1=Sarah |last2=Fornabaio |first2=Lara |title=The Special Status of Agriculture |publisher=ClientEarth |date=May 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/rhdfzkav/the-special-status-of-agriculture-why-is-the-cap-an-exceptional-policy.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{martin2021special, author = {Martin, Sarah and Fornabaio, Lara}, title = {{The Special Status of Agriculture}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/rhdfzkav/the-special-status-of-agriculture-why-is-the-cap-an-exceptional-policy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }