Towards sustainability: Future policies for European livestock

The CAP is failing to reward adequately those livestock farmers who produce public goods. Brexit and CAP reform are opportunities to do better.

Fitness Check of the Birds and Habitats Directives

The Nature Directives (i.e. Birds Directive and Habitats Directive) are the key instruments of EU environmental policy; the Fitness Check support study, carried out by Milieu, IEEP and ICF for the European Commission DG-ENV, examined their effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, EU-added value and their coherence with the wider acquis.

Result-based agri-environment measures: market-based instruments, incentives or rewards?

New guidance for farmland management in Natura 2000

New guidance for farmland management in Natura 2000 gives agricultural and conservation authorities a step-by-step guide to management and funding measures and practical advice on habitat and species management.

High Nature Value farming throughout EU-27 and its financial support under the CAP

This study reviews Member States’ estimates of the extent of HNV farmland and use of RDP measures and the CMEF indicators, then identifies future priorities for CAP support for HNV farming and discusses the support opportunities under the reformed CAP. It offers detailed new evidence about the combined effect of Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 CAP payments on the economic and environmental viability of a typical HNV farming system in three Member States.

New report: High Nature Value Farming in the EU

Member States need to make the most of the opportunities under the new Common Agricultural Policy if the declines in HNV farming, critical for meeting our 2020 biodiversity targets, are to be halted.

Estimation of the financing needs to implement Target 2 of the Biodiversity Strategy

IEEP assessed the financing needs to implement Target 2 of the Biodiversity Strategy (target to maintain ecosystem services and restore 15% of degraded ecosystems by 2020) with eftec. The report showed that a large increase in funding will be required if Target 2 is to be attained, but also that there are a range of potential funding sources that could be increasingly used.

A greener CAP: still within reach?

The greening of the CAP hangs in the balance in the final negotiations; a synthesis of key issues and requirements.

Delivering environmental benefits through entry-level agri-environment schemes in the EU

A new study of the 2007-13 agri-environment schemes across the whole of EU-27 provides the first typology of ‘entry-level’ agri-environment management and environmental objectives, plus a detailed insight into the design of entry-level agri-environment schemes and calculation of payment rates in seven Member States.

Impacts of climate change and renewable energy on Natura 2000

This series of reports reviewed evidence of climate change impacts on biodiversity in Europe, including vulnerable species across the Natura 2000 network, and identified policy measures that may facilitate biodiversity adaptation in the EU. The project also assessed the potential impacts of renewable energy technologies on Natura sites and their species.

Implementing the Renewable Energy Directive – Sustainability Requirements for Biofuels, the Question of Highly Biodiverse Grasslands

The renewable energy Directive (2009/28/EC) contains targets promoting both renewable energy and renewable transport fuels.Delivering compliance with these targets will increase demand for both biofuels ...