Billions in Misspent EU Agricultural Subsidies Could Support the Sustainable Development Goals

TLDR

The Common Agricultural Policy, the EU’s largest budget item, is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, yet its effectiveness is unclear due to missing monitoring indicators and uncertain contribution to SDGs. The authors propose redirecting and improving monitoring of CAP payments to align with environmental, sustainability, and rural development objectives, thereby supporting the SDGs, the European Green Deal, and a green COVID‑19 recovery. Analysis of €59.4 billion in 2015 CAP payments reveals that the current allocation worsens income inequality—over €24 billion went to high‑income regions and €2.5 billion to urban areas—while providing minimal support to climate‑friendly and biodiverse farming zones.

Abstract

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the guiding policy for agriculture and the largest single budget item in the European Union (EU). Agriculture is essential to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but the CAP's contribution to do so is uncertain. We analyzed the distribution of €59.4 billion of 2015 CAP payments and show that current CAP spending exacerbates income inequality within agriculture, while little funding supports climate-friendly and biodiverse farming regions. More than €24 billion of 2015 CAP direct payments went to regions where average farm incomes are already above the EU median income. A further €2.5 billion in rural development payments went to primarily urban areas. Effective monitoring indicators are also missing. We recommend redirecting and better monitoring CAP payments toward achieving the environmental, sustainability, and rural development goals stated in the CAP's new objectives, which would support the SDGs, the European Green Deal, and green COVID-19 recovery.