The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy is a set of policies, primarily farming subsidies, that supports European farming and incentivises sustainable practices. One key criticism of the Common Agricultural Policy is a general failure to hold recipients of subsidies accountable for human rights and environmental conditions.
The introduction of a social conditionality clause to the latest EU Common Agricultural Policy (2023 to 2027) aims to address this. It stipulates certain minimum standards for worker health and safety, threatening farmers and food producers with administrative sanctions if such standards are not upheld.
Our partners at FIAN International say that the upcoming EU CAP reform needs to reflect social conditionality far more comprehensively.
