The Common Agricultural Policy Post-2013: Could Reforms Make Baltic Sea Region Farms More Sustainable?

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute evaluates the implementation of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) from 2007 to 2013 and assesses proposed reforms for the post-2013 period. It argues that the CAP has had limited success in reducing environmental impacts and suggests that future reforms should better embrace the region's agricultural diversity and foster transboundary cooperation to protect common water bodies.

• The implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) between 2007 and 2013 in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) failed to significantly reduce negative environmental impacts from farming or improve the ecosystem services provided by farms.
• Agricultural systems in the BSR are highly diverse in terms of farm size and intensity (ranging from intensive to extensive). The authors argue this diversity is an asset for generating public goods and ecosystem services, but it requires a more flexible CAP payment scheme than currently proposed.
• There is an 'uneven playing field' among EU Member States in the BSR due to differing CAP entitlements. This has led to a trend where countries use CAP payments to meet national compliance goals, which undermines collective regional action for shared water bodies like the Baltic Sea.
• Many agri-environmental measures under Pillar 2 were poorly targeted and failed to achieve expected results. Stakeholders reported a mismatch between available financial incentives and market forces, with farmers generally feeling underpaid.
• The farm payment system suffers from widespread distrust among farmers, landowners, civil servants, NGOs, and the private sector. Key issues include a lack of effective monitoring, insufficient measures for different agricultural systems, and a need for better cross-sectoral coordination and stakeholder involvement.
• The authors recommend consolidating CAP Pillars 1 and 2 to treat environmental services as a core value of farming rather than a precondition for payment. They also suggest introducing 'soft measures,' such as supporting dialogue between riparian countries on joint nutrient reduction targets for the Baltic Sea.

APA

Powell, N., Osbeck, M., Larsen, R. K., Andersson, K., Schwartz, G., & Davis, M. (2013). The Common Agricultural Policy Post-2013: Could Reforms Make Baltic Sea Region Farms More Sustainable? Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/sei-bc-pb-2013-cap-reform.pdf

Chicago

Powell, Neil, Maria Osbeck, Rasmus Kløcker Larsen, Kim Andersson, Gerald Schwartz, and Marion Davis. The Common Agricultural Policy Post-2013: Could Reforms Make Baltic Sea Region Farms More Sustainable? Stockholm Environment Institute, 2013. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/sei-bc-pb-2013-cap-reform.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{powell2013common, author = {Powell, Neil and Osbeck, Maria and Larsen, Rasmus Kløcker and Andersson, Kim and Schwartz, Gerald and Davis, Marion}, title = {{The Common Agricultural Policy Post-2013: Could Reforms Make Baltic Sea Region Farms More Sustainable?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2013}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/sei-bc-pb-2013-cap-reform.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }