cultivar_22_Final_EN

49 CAP post-2020: improving environmental protection while preserving the necessary competitiveness of European agriculture* Hervé Guyomard 1 Alix Bell 1 Cécile Détang-Dessendre 2 1  Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA)** and The Finagri Chair 2  INRA The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Euro- pean Union’s (EU) most important policy in budg- etary terms, has remained stable for almost three decades, during which its primary objective was the development of domestic agricultural production. The CAP was then based on pro- ducer price support through market intervention at guar- anteed prices, import protec- tion and export promotion. However, since 1992, more than 25 years ago now, this policy has been under per- manent reform. The environment in the CAP In 1992, the CAP reform process was first driven by external considerations under the influence of the World Trade Organisa- tion (WTO) and the need to reduce trade distortions. Subsequently, the process was guided by internal con- siderations of two kinds: (i) better distribution of support among countries, regions, productions and farm hold- ings and (ii) correction of the adverse effects of an over-intensive agriculture on natural resources and … the CAP reform process was subsequently guided by better distribution of support among countries, regions, productions and farm holdings and correction of the adverse effects of an over-intensive agriculture on natural resources and the environment. * Editor’s note: Originally published in CULTIVAR issue 12 – Climate Change, June 2018, p. 39, https://www.gpp.pt/images/GPP/O_que_dis- ponibilizamos/Publicacoes/CULTIVAR_12/40/ as “PAC pós-2020: melhorar a proteção do ambiente preservando a necessária competitivi- dade da agricultura europeia”, a translation from the original French article, ibid ., p.45, “Comment mieux prendre en compte la protection de l’environnement dans la PAC de l’après-2020 tout en préservant la nécessaire compétitivité de l’agriculture européenne?”. https://www. gpp.pt/images/GPP/O_que_disponibilizamos/Publicacoes/CULTIVAR_12/46/ ** Editor’s note: INRA has become the Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement (INRAE) in January 2020.