D5.2 – Mid-term Policy briefs

Two policy briefs are included in this deliverable. Improving Eco-Schemes in the Light of Agroecology: Key Recommendations for the 2023-2027 Common Agricultural Policy discusses the new CAP structure, as well as its content, and provides recommendations how to improve the eco-schemes. They are for the first time the main stated body that the Commission has chosen to bring forward agroecology. The policy brief was written and released during a time when the Member States and Commission were still in conversation on what would be included in the country’s Strategic Plans, a process which has now almost ended. The recommendations include advancing agroecological practices; creating basic premiums for eco-friendly agricultural production systems; structuring multi-dimensional eco-schemes that encourage the implementation of multiple practices at once; ensuring the proportionality between the level of payment and the expected environmental benefits; maintaining rigorous conditionality by not paying for what should be mandatory; and using public money for public goods. The brief ends with an assessment on which countries have included agroecology in their plans, as well as which schemes seem promising or concerning for the advancement of agroecology. 10 Steps to Achieve the European Green Deal takes the time to show that many of the targets found within the European Green Deal, including the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies, can be met by a transition to agroecology. It discusses the lack of roadmap that exists within many European legislations and aims to provide such a map through 10 concrete steps that can be taken to achieve no net emissions of greenhouse gases within the agricultural sector. These steps aim to provide a framework to achieve the promised reduction of chemical pesticides, fertilisers, nutrient losses, and environmental and climate footprints; protection of EU’s protected areas; planting of 3 billion trees; restoration of high diversity landscape features; and expansion of organic farming.