Europe's agricultural policy due for reforms

Recently, the European Union announced reforms to its common agricultural policy, or CAP, as it is also known. It's the first update of the policy since 2004. Many conservation groups, such as Friends of the Earth, say the new reforms don't do enough to protect wildlife across Europe's farmland. Supporters of the CAP applaud the emphasis it puts on traditional farming communities.

If approved by the European Parliament, the changes are meant to pave the way for a more balanced distribution of subsidies, increase incentives for young farmers and reward those practising environmentally-friendly farming. The European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Ciolos says the latest changes are due to go into effect in January 2014.

Left with ravaged fields and hungry populations, post-war Europe united to make food security a priority. The Treaty of Rome in 1957 outlined the initial objectives of the CAP: increase productivity, ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, stabilize markets, secure availability of supplies and provide consumers with food at reasonable prices.

By the 1980s, the market was flooded with "butter mountains" and "wine lakes." Farmers were paid to produce, regardless of demand, which resulted in a food surplus. To maintain European market stability, the excess products were often sold to the developing world.

As a result of the constant surplus, quotas for sugar and milk were introduced, as well as new wine distilling methods to focus on the quality, not quantity, of wine. In 1992 the MacSharry reform sparked a shift in how farmers were supported.

After the United Nations 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the principle of sustainable development emerged and European farmers were encouraged to become more environmentally friendly. German farmers initially struggled to keep up with the rising demand for organic foods though. The switch from conventional to organic farming can be costly.

Farmer payments under CAP are no longer linked to the quantities they produce. Currently, farmers receive one payment per year, based on the amount of aid historically paid to them and how much land is farmed. This results in huge disparites between EU member states, with new members receiving significantly less funding. This is also due to be changed in the planned reforms.

Thanks to a European love of chicken breasts, a lot of poultry off-cuts are produced in the bloc. The remaining parts of chickens are still shipped to Ghana, for example, where 95% of the meat now comes from abroad. As a result, domestic production of poultry has almost totally collapsed there.

Following transparency efforts in 2006, many CAP subsidy recipients were revealed to be millionaires, big corporations, or even organizations with limited links to agriculture. German candy-maker Haribo received sugar subsidies for the production of its gummy bears while German airline Lufthansa received dairy subsidies.

The CAP costs each EU citizen around 30 cents per day. As the most expensive program in the EU, it accounts for nearly 40% of the European budget. On average, farm subsidies provide nearly half of farmers' income in the EU.