AUTHORS: Clunie Keenleyside – Ben Allen – Kaley Hart – Hetty Menadue – Vyara Stefanova – Jaroslav Prazan – Irina Herzon – Thierry Clement – Andrea Povellato – Mariusz Maciejczak – Nigel Boatman

This study analyses all the 2007-13 Rural Development Programmes across the EU to provide the first typology of ‘entry-level’ agri-environment management actions and their potential contribution to nine environmental objectives of strategic importance, including biodiversity, water and climate change. The analysis illustrates how some of the proposed greening measures for Pillar 1 of the CAP are already supported by RDP funding for entry-level agri-environment management actions.

Case studies in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Italy, Poland and the UK offer a detailed insight of the different ways in which Member States are using the agri-environment measure to support environmental management just above the reference level. This part of the study examines the relationship between the reference level, payment rates and uptake, the way in which agri-environment schemes are designed and revised, and the role of farmer support networks.

The report is intended to inform the discussion about the role of entry-level agri-environment support in the context of future CAP policies, and the process of designing and implementing entry-level AE schemes in the future.