Turning the EU's agricultural vision into environmental action: A performance-oriented CAP after 2027

The agricultural sector of the EU is affected by several political and economic crises and dissatisfaction with policy has been voiced loudly. Against this background, the EU Commission presented a Vision for Agriculture and Food which emphasizes competitiveness, food security, and simplification. This News article critically analyses the Vision's references to the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in regards to environmental challenges and proposes alternative policy recommendations. The analysis shows that the Vision prioritizes income support and reduced bureaucracy while neglecting environmental protection. However, to ensure long-term food security and environmental resilience, (1) a 'pay for performance' approach on Member State level, (2) the expansion of results-oriented measures and (3) the promotion of circular economy principles on farm level are needed.