Editing Common Agricultural Policy (section)

===Environmental problems===
A common view is that the CAP has traditionally promoted a large expansion in agricultural production. At the same time it has allowed farmers to employ un-ecological ways of increasing production, such as the indiscriminate use of fertilizers and pesticides, with serious environmental consequences. However, a total re-focusing of the payment scheme in 2004 now puts the environment at the centre of farming policy. By linking the payments to farmers to a number of strict environmental standards (among others) in the so-called cross compliance scheme, farmers will have to face cuts in their subsidy levels if they don't meet the strict environmental requirements.

In 2010, the EU announced that 31% of the €5&nbsp;billion that was earmarked the new (mainly environmental) challenges in agriculture would be spent on protecting and promoting biodiversity in the European countryside. This money is part of the EU rural development policy, which is supporting agri-environmental projects throughout the Member States.

The CAP has furthermore been criticized due to its effect on farmland bird populations. Between 1980 and 2009, the farmland bird population has decreased from 600 million to 300&nbsp;million, implying a loss of 50%.<ref>{{cite web|author=EUtopia |url=http://eutopia-blog.blogspot.de/2012/07/more-diversity-on-my-plate-critique-of.html |title=EUtopia |publisher=Eutopia-blog.blogspot.de |date=12 July 2012}}</ref> Among the species that have been hit hardest are the starling and the tree sparrow, which have both declined by 53%. The removal of hedgerows and ploughing over meadows are two significant factors that may have contributed to more efficient farming, but that also caused a decrease in farmland birds' habitats.<ref>{{cite news|author=Robin McKie |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/may/26/eu-farming-policies-bird-population |title=How EU farming policies led to a collapse in Europe's bird population |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=26 May 2012 |access-date=6 November 2014}}</ref>

In England, farmers have been lauded by the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]] because the five most threatened bumblebees have made a comeback to the English nature due to the agri-environmental schemes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/media/releases/261841-countrys-rarest-bumblebees-make-a-comeback |title=Country's rarest bumblebees make a comeback |publisher=Rspb.org.uk |date=12 April 2011 |access-date=23 April 2011}}</ref> In Germany, support for [[extensive farming]] and biotope management helps maintain habitat for rare species such as orchids and butterflies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://enrd.ec.europa.eu/app_templates/filedownload.cfm?id=3E3F4C22-0331-99A3-AD5F-C25FF369EF68 |title=The Magazine from the European Network for Rural Development |access-date=23 April 2011}}</ref> In Hungary, a special scheme was launched to protect the [[great bustard]], maybe the world's heaviest flying bird, which needs areas with minimal disturbance and an abundant supply of insects to breed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.belanski.com/drupal/great_bustard |title= 人人弄狠狠婷五月丁香_高H全肉视频在线观看无需下载_av可看免费播放_乳首の奶水在线观看视频电影|website=www.belanski.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617203927/http://www.belanski.com/drupal/great_bustard |archive-date=17 June 2009}}</ref> In Cyprus, agri-environment schemes support the maintenance of traditional trees and bushes that are a natural habitat for the islands and likely to be of benefit to farmland birds in Cyprus.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.birdlife.org/eu/pdfs/Agrienvironment_schemes_lesson_learnt.pdf |title=Microsoft Word – Agri-environment schemes and biodiversity in the EU – less |access-date=23 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715103543/http://www.birdlife.org/eu/pdfs/Agrienvironment_schemes_lesson_learnt.pdf |archive-date=15 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Rules instituted in 2015 barring or reducing payments for farmed land above threshold densities of trees or canopy cover have been attacked as having perverse consequences for mature trees, biodiversity, soil erosion and downstream flooding.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/warning-chainsaw-massacre-over-welsh-8827604|title=Warning of chainsaw massacre over Welsh farmland's 'ineligible features'|last=Forgrave|first=Andrew|date=12 March 2015|newspaper=northwales|access-date=28 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.monbiot.com/2015/02/25/slip-sliding-away/|title=Slip Sliding Away {{!}} George Monbiot|website=monbiot.com|date=25 February 2015 |access-date=28 October 2016}}</ref>

The [[European Court of Auditors]] raised concerns in 2024 about the lack of alignment between the CAP and EU's climate objectives in the [[European Green Deal|Green Deal]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Major gaps between EU farming incentives and Green Deal goals, ECA says |url=https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/major-gaps-between-eu-farming-incentives-green-deal-goals-eca-says-2024-09-30/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241003211412/https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/major-gaps-between-eu-farming-incentives-green-deal-goals-eca-says-2024-09-30/ |archive-date=2024-10-03 |access-date=2025-01-17 |work=Reuters |language=en-US}}</ref>