Why is the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy not enough?
Significant benefits can be expected from linking the direct payments (“cross-compliance”) to farmers to the application of soil-friendly agricultural practices. However, these measures are not obligatory everywhere and they only apply to farmers who are under the payment regimes, which is not the case for all types of farming activities. Farmers who do not receive payments are not bound to adopt these soil-friendly practices. Therefore, cross compliance will only partially contribute to the preservation and sustainable use of soil. Why act now? Over the last few decades, there has been a significant increase in soil degradation processes. These processes are likely to further accelerate if nothing is done now to protect soil In the European Union, only nine Member States have specific legislation on soil protection, usually targeted at very specific threats, e.g. desertification in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, contamination in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium (Flanders). Sin
