A smarter CAP debate

A new series of seminars on CAP reform starts on May 19th in Brussels. 'Rural Development Policy in the EU – Lessons from the Past and Options for the Future' examines evaluation studies of second-pillar programs and summarizes their implications for the post-2013 CAP.

The EU needs a smart CAP debate. The CAP is the EU’s most expensive policy, costing € 57 billion annually. The success of the EU 2020 strategy and the next long-term EU budget cycle depends on CAP reform. Furthermore, the CAP is a key lever for promoting biodiversity and fighting climate change. A policy debate of the highest standards is needed to prepare the ground for making the right decisions on CAP reform.

But the debate about the future of the CAP is often poorly informed and distorted. Emotions take centerstage: fears over food insecurity, compassion for small-scale farmers and attachment to the rural way of life can hinder evidence-based analysis. The debate is also driven by special interests, with farmers protesting in the streets and extensive lobbying behind closed doors. Narrowly-conceived national interests in maximizing the receipt of EU subsidies also bias perspectives and arguments.

ECIPE and reformthecap.eu are organizing a series of seminars to help non-experts determine the facts. More and more stakeholders are starting to take an interest in the CAP. They feel that something is wrong with the policy but find it hard to challenge the justifications provided by insiders who defend the status quo. The seminars will provide an overview of what research has to say on critical issues in reforming the CAP. The aim is to inform all stakeholders through easily accessible, high-quality presentations by recognized experts: providing the best science at your fingertips.

Rural Development Policy in the EU – Lessons from the Past and Options for the Future

The EU’s rural development policy – the second pillar of the CAP – will receive €14 billion in funding in 2010. Whereas the overall CAP budget will likely be cut after 2013, rural development funds stand to increase further. Just about everyone agrees that the CAP has to do more to tackle challenges such as biodiversity loss and climate change, and that this can be best achieved through targeted measures of rural development policy. But how effective is the EU’s rural development policy really?

Ex-ante impact assessments and ex-post policy evaluations have become an integral part of the CAP. The Court of Auditors and other independent bodies – mandated by the Commission and the Member States – produce piles of reports every year. They look at the details of investments in farms and forestry, land management for environmental and landscape purposes, rural economic diversification and micro-business development etc.

The seminar focuses on the evaluation process for rural development programs and how this can inform and improve rural development policy in the EU. The research project presented at the seminar has analyzed the approach taken to evaluation. This has revealed important shortcomings in the way the EU assesses its rural development policy. Thus, one objective of the conference is to discuss how better evidence on the key questions of policy design can be gathered. This is a crucial challenge ahead of the fundamental post-2013 CAP reform.

In addition, the researchers have summarized the evidence that is available from existing evaluation reports, drawing lessons for the future direction of policy. This includes the tricky issue of how future rural development policies may interface with other policy concerns to address challenges facing agriculture and rural areas.

Program

PART I: 14.00-16.15

Presentations

• Berkeley Hill, Emeritus Professor, University of London: Improving the evaluation of EU rural development policies.
• Janet Dwyer, Reader, University of Gloucestershire: What we have learned from evaluating EU rural development policies?
• David Blandford, Professor, Pennsylvania State University: Connecting the dots –achieving multiple policy objectives in Europe’s rural areas.

Responses by practitioners

• Angela Bergschmidt, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, Germany
• asked: DG Agri, European Court of Auditors

PART II: 16.30-18.00

Discussion round table for all those who want to stay on; moderated by Valentin Zahrnt, Research Associate at ECIPE.

Date – 19 May 2010
Duration – 14.00-18.00
Venue – Representation of the State of Niedersachsen, Rue Montoyer 61, 1000 Brussels

RSVP to info@ecipe.org by 14 May.