The EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) contains a range of measures whose purpose is toguarantee a stable and adequate income for farmers. Direct payments to the 6.4 million farmers in the 28 Member States account for €41 billion a year. Alongside these direct payments, the CAP includes specific instruments for preventing and managing risks and crises in the agricultural sector. For example, insurance and mutual funds can be used to stabilise farm income. There are also exceptional measures which are intended to stabilise the market as a whole in the event of serious disturbance, such as when Russia decided in 2014 to ban certain agricultural imports from the EU.
The auditors looked specifically at whether these tools had been implemented efficiently and were delivering results. They focused in particular on the EU's support for insurance and the exceptional measures introduced for the fruit and vegetables sector following the 2014 Russian sanctions.
The auditors acknowledge that the CAP contains a variety of income safeguards. Direct payments play a significant role in this regard. On average, they account for a quarter of farm income, allowing farmers to cope better with failing prices or lower production, and thus reducing their need to insure. At the same time, the CAP increasingly promotes preventive measures, especially by encouraging farmers to adopt good agricultural and environmental practices. The auditors found, however, that this activity has little impact on farmers' behaviour, since insured farmers may have less incentive to apply a resilient business strategy or adapt to climate change.
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