CAP funds should be diverted to those on lower incomes and with a bigger emphasis on results-based environmental outcomes, a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has said.

The OECD recommended a higher share of the CAP be ringfenced for “environmental stewardship and climate change mitigation” to allow agriculture to better meet EU Farm to Fork targets.

It also stated that “environmentally harmful” forms of farmer supports should be phased out, with coupled direct payments and input supports named as examples.

Kept in check

Farm payments should shift to a results-based model and the results should be kept in check by regular reporting, according to the report.

It claims that better efficiency with inputs and innovations within the agri-food sector could allow for farm output to be maintained when making these changes.

The reporters suggested that clearly laying out which farm payments are to support income and which are to deliver on the environment would “give more certainty to farmers”.

On EU regulations, the report claimed to have identified an “implementation gap” where the objectives of policies are often not met and where member states have “excessive flexibilities” to work around these goals.

It stated that the EU nature restoration law is an example of a regulation which will set clear-cut targets and place stronger requirements on EU member states, avoiding what the OECD classed as this gap in policy.