EU CAP reform deal a “disaster”

News that EU policymakers had finally thrashed out an agreement on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy last week was greeted in a lukewarm manner both by UK farming and environmental groups.

The new agreement will govern agricultural policy and payments to landowners and farmers in the EU from next year until 2020. The payments it controls include many wildlife friendly farming subsidies shoots use to support the flora and fauna under their management. Under the new agreement, 30 per cent of new direct payments will be dependent on environmental “greening” measures being taken. Many environmental groups felt this did not go far enough and that the deal failed to live up to the original proposals.

The rest of this article appears in the 3rd July issue of Shooting Times.

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