CAP reform
The issue
Our aim is to overhaul the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and transform a system that can lead to farm animal suffering into one that promotes animal welfare.
CAP is over 50 years old but a structured system of payments to reward animal welfare has only been in place since 1999.
The campaign
Discussions on the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) started in 2008. A new proposal to update the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was issued by the Commission in 2011 and is expected to be agreed in 2012. We want a CAP that is more focused on sustainable agriculture and the production of high quality products that deliver animal welfare. We also want farmers’ subsidies to be linked to complying with all farm animal welfare laws rather than the current three.
Unfortunately the Commission's proposal does not include anything new for animal welfare and in certain areas reduces the budget or options that farmers can use to improve animal welfare. For instance the number of options for farmers to improve animal welfare has been reduced from seven to three. We are calling on governments in the United Kingdom and Europe to ensure that these measures are made mandatory, rather than voluntary as at present, and to increase the number of laws such as on chickens that will apply to farmers claiming subsidies.
See response to a CAP Reform consultation:
CAP Reform Consultation response talking points
Animal welfare measures do work. In 2008 we produced a new report called Targeted Help - improving farm animal welfare in Scotland(RSPCA)(PDF 703KB) looking at the effect of a rural development scheme in Scotland to improve animal welfare. This was the first review of an animal welfare programme under the CAP.
Farmers participating in the scheme reported a positive impact of the scheme on herd welfare and health, stated that it had reduced calf and lamb mortality and lowered lameness and mastitis due to better targeted treatments.
There are now seven options for countries to improve animal welfare. We have been calling on governments in the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe to implement programmes to reward farmers who produce to higher welfare standards.
Other ideas can be found in Into the fold - bringing animal welfare into the CAP (RSPCA -Eurogroup 2002)(PDF 375KB) which looks at ways in which the new funding mechanisms could be used to help farm animals.
