Evaluation of the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy’s arable regimes on the environment
From January to November 2006 Janet Dwyer, Julie Ingram and James Taylor produced a case study focused on East Anglia, as part of a major pan-European evaluation of the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy’s arable regimes, 1985-2005, on the environment. An Anglo-French consortium, ‘Alliance Environnement’, which brings together Thierry Clement’s Oreade-Breche consultancy and the Institute for European Environmental Policy in London, led the study, which was commissioned by the Agriculture Directorate General of the European Commission.
The UK case study examined how farming in Eastern England has evolved over the period of analysis and tried to establish, with as much rigour as possible, the extent to which the changes observed have been the result of the evolving CAP arable support systems. It concluded that the impact of the policies has been potentially more significant than has hitherto been realized, in a variety of respects. However, market forces and non-CAP influences have also been critical.
