As negotiations begin on the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), AAFT has joined 32 civil society organisations to urge EU leaders to fundamentally rethink Europe’s approach to food and farming. The message is clear: the CAP must finally serve farmers, citizens and the planet, not the interests of the few. It must also raise the bar on animal welfare, which remains one of the most overlooked pillars of a truly fair and sustainable food system.
Today, Europe faces disappearing farms, an ageing farming population, degraded ecosystems and deepening inequalities in the food system. Yet the CAP proposals released in July 2025, without any real public consultation, threaten to lock the EU into the same failing model. A handful of large, already profitable farms still receive a disproportionate share of payments, while those who most need support struggle to survive. This must change. Public money must go to active farmers, to those genuinely working the land, and to those who need it most. It must stop flowing into industrial farming systems that rely on cages, overcrowded sheds and low-welfare practices, systems that harm animals, farmers and the environment alike.
Europe cannot build a sustainable food system without creating fair economic conditions for the agroecological transition. Farmers need fair prices, strong market rules and secure access to land. They need dignified working conditions and real support for young farmers and new entrants. And they need a CAP that invests in living ecosystems, with stable, ambitious funding for environmental and climate action, and clear support to move away from factory farming and pesticide-intensive systems.
At the same time, harmful subsidies that fuel environmental degradation and unfair competition must finally be phased out. The EU must strengthen its stewardship rules to prevent a race to the bottom and ensure all Member States uphold high standards for nature, workers and farmers.
We call for real accountability and transparency. National Plans must be published, scrutinised and aligned with EU climate, animal welfare and social objectives. Civil society and farmers’ organisations must have a meaningful role in shaping them. Public money must deliver real public value, not greenwashing. This includes transparent reporting on how CAP spending affects animal-welfare outcomes, and clear incentives for Member States to raise standards rather than dilute them.
The choice facing EU leaders is simple: continue down a path that fails farmers, harms animals and accelerates ecological breakdown, or seize this moment to build a fairer, more resilient food system. Europe cannot afford another lost decade.