EUROPEAN UNION

After a three-year struggle, EU negotiators have finally struck a deal on the future of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The agreement, which was signed at the end of June, has introduced reforms to the bloc’s extensive farming subsidy programme, and new measures will now protect small farms and curb agriculture’s environmental impact.

CAP will absorb approximately one-third of the bloc’s 2021 to 2027 budget, with €387 billion (about R6,6 trillion) to be spent on payments to farmers and support for rural development.