Common agricultural policy – growing support among EU citizens

According to the latest Eurobarometer survey, support for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has reached a record high, the highest since 2007. As many as 78 percent of respondents say they are familiar with the initiative’s premises. More than 70 percent. of them agree that the EU, through the CAP, is fulfilling its role in providing safe, healthy and sustainable high-quality food.

Common agricultural policy – public opinion poll

The opinion poll on the Common Agricultural Policy has been conducted by the European Commission since 2007. The current, eighth summary, entitled Europeans, Agriculture and the CAP, was conducted in all 27 EU member states between June 13 and July 8, 2024. Interviews with 26,349 respondents from various social and demographic groups were analyzed. The survey provides a comprehensive overview of Europeans’ attitudes toward agriculture and the CAP.

The role of the CAP in ensuring a stable food supply

According to the Eurobarometer survey, 81 percent of respondents agree that the CAP contributes to ensuring a stable food supply in the EU. Across all 27 member states, a majority of respondents believe that the EU, through the CAP, is fulfilling its role in providing safe, healthy and sustainable high-quality food:

• 71 percent. believes that it contributes to the development of scientific research, as well as digital solutions to support the agricultural and food sectors;
• 70 percent believe it enhances the role of farmers in the food chain,
• Seventy percent believe that the EU is helping to boost investment and economic growth and increase jobs in the agricultural and food sectors;
• 69 percent believe this contributes to reasonable food prices.

In terms of familiarity with European quality marks, the majority of Europeans (56 percent) recognize the organic farming logo. However, less than a quarter are familiar with the protected geographical indication and protected designation of origin logos (19 percent and 18 percent, respectively).

Evaluation of the amount of support of farmers

In the latest Eurobarometer survey, more than half of respondents (56 percent) indicated that the level of EU financial support for farmers to stabilize their income is about right, an increase of ten percentage points from 2022 and the highest level since 2013. Respondents believe that it is important:

• Ensuring a steady and stable food supply in the EU (94 percent);
• Ensuring reasonable food prices for consumers (92 percent);
• Ensuring sustainable management of natural resources (91 percent);
• Strengthening the role of farmers in the food chain (90 percent).

Respondents agreed that important CAP priorities are:

• boosting investment and economic growth, and increasing the number of jobs in the agricultural and food sectors (89 percent);
• Encouraging young people to enter the agricultural sector (87 percent);
• Reducing disparities in the development of various EU regions and territories (87 percent);
• Helping to combat climate change (86 percent);
• Developing research and digital solutions to support agriculture and the food sector (84 percent).

The impact of the CAP on the climate and the environment

One of the goals of the Common Agricultural Policy is to raise the level of environmental and climate ambition. In order to check whether the CAP’s strategic plans for 2023-2027 affect green activities, the European Court of Auditors has prepared a special report: Plans under the Common Agricultural Policy. They are greener, but not in line with the EU’s climate and environmental ambitions, as we wrote about in a previous article: Common Agricultural Policy Plans and Ecology.

In the case of the Eurobarometer survey conducted, nearly nine out of ten respondents (88 percent, down 4 percentage points since the last survey) favor the EU continuing to pay subsidies to farmers to carry out climate and environmentally beneficial farming practices:

• 91 percent believe that the CAP helps ensure the sustainable management of natural resources;
• Some 70 percent believe that the CAP contributes to ensuring sustainable management of natural resources and combating climate change;
• 62 percent agree that agriculture has already made a significant contribution to combating climate change.

The impact of the CAP on the future of rural areas

In terms of the CAP’s impact on maintaining the competitiveness of the agricultural sector and making rural areas more attractive, the study found:

• Ninety-two percent of respondents agree that in the EU, agriculture and rural areas are important to our future, and 52 percent consider them “very important.”
• 66 percent of respondents believe that the CAP contributes to reducing disparities in the development of various EU regions and territories;
• 63 percent of respondents confirm that the CAP encourages young people to enter the agricultural sector.