The European Commission has published a review of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014-2020, highlighting the main changes the EU agriculture sector has undergone as a result of CAP between those years.
This is reported by ProAgro Group citing Agriland.
The commission’s review says that the CAP “as a whole” has helped support and stabilise farm incomes in the period, while market measures have helped limit domestic price volatility of most agricultural products and facilitated price recovery in sectors affected by a market crisis.
The number of beneficiaries under the 2014-2020 CAP reached six million in 2019. 20% of beneficiaries received 80% of direct payments but that this ratio “essentially mirrors” the distribution (and in some member states the concentration) of land ownership.
Most large beneficiaries in the EU are family farms of between 20ha and 100ha and receive more than €7,500. About half of all beneficiaries are very small farms, with less than 5ha.
The 2014-2020 CAP resulted in a “significant redistribution” of direct payments to smaller farmers and to areas facing natural constraints, the commission says.
