EU Study Highlights How CAP Measures Can Reduce Nutrient Pollution in Agriculture

A new study published by the EU CAP Network on 9 October 2026 examines how the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plans for 2023–2027 could contribute to reducing nutrient pollution across European agriculture.

The report, Rough estimate of the potential impact of the CAP Strategic Plans on nutrient balance over the 2023–2027 period, identifies organic farming, cover crops and soil protection practices among the agricultural approaches with the strongest potential to improve nutrient management.

The findings also highlight an important challenge: the environmental benefits expected from agricultural policies depend not only on how support measures are designed, but also on how effectively they are implemented and adopted by farmers.

Why Nutrient Balance Matters

Managing nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus is essential for productive and sustainable agriculture.

While these nutrients are necessary for crop development, excessive nutrient surpluses and losses can contribute to water pollution, ecosystem degradation and inefficient use of agricultural inputs.

Improving nutrient management is therefore both an environmental priority and an opportunity to make agricultural production more resource-efficient.

The new EU CAP Network study examines how interventions supported through national and regional CAP Strategic Plans could contribute to addressing these challenges.

Which Agricultural Practices Show the Greatest Potential?

The analysis identifies several practices with significant potential to reduce nutrient pressures:

• Organic farming, through agricultural management approaches that can reduce nutrient surpluses.

• Cover crops and winter soil cover, which can help retain nutrients and reduce losses from agricultural soils.

• Grassland protection, supporting soil stability and nutrient retention.

• Mulching and minimum soil cover, helping protect soils and limit nutrient losses.

The report identifies eco-schemes as the main contributor to estimated nutrient mitigation, followed by environmental and climate commitments under the CAP.

Among the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs), GAEC 6, which concerns minimum soil cover, shows particularly significant potential.

These findings reinforce the importance of agricultural practices that combine soil protection with improved nutrient management.

Evidence from Seven European CAP Strategic Plans

The study examines CAP Strategic Plans in seven Member States and regions where nutrient management represents a significant environmental concern:

Wallonia (Belgium), Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain.

Using scientific evidence, nutrient balance data and information on CAP implementation, the researchers developed estimates of the potential effects of agricultural interventions on nitrogen surplus and phosphorus losses.

The results indicate that CAP measures can contribute positively to reducing nutrient pressures, although the estimated impacts vary between countries and regions.

Differences are linked to the design of interventions, the agricultural practices supported and existing nutrient surplus levels.

Areas with higher initial nutrient surpluses generally demonstrate greater potential for improvement.

A Gap Between Planned and Achieved Results

One of the most important findings concerns the difference between the environmental benefits anticipated in CAP Strategic Plans and the results estimated from their implementation during 2023.

In several cases, actual implementation fell below planned levels.

The study associates these differences with factors such as delays in implementing support measures and lower participation by farmers.

This is particularly relevant for the evaluation of agricultural policy.

A measure may have strong environmental potential, but its real-world contribution depends on whether farmers can access, adopt and maintain the supported practices.

The findings underline the importance of effective programme delivery, practical implementation and monitoring of results.

What Does This Mean for Agri-Food Innovation?

Beyond its policy implications, the study highlights areas where agricultural innovation can support more effective nutrient management.

For agri-tech companies, researchers and technology providers, several opportunities are particularly relevant.

Precision nutrient management can help farmers improve fertiliser application decisions using field data, sensors and decision-support technologies.

Soil monitoring and digital agriculture can provide better information on soil conditions, nutrient availability and the effectiveness of agricultural practices.

Cover crop and soil management innovations can support the practical adoption of approaches that improve soil protection and nutrient retention.

Environmental monitoring and assessment tools can help policymakers, farmers and other stakeholders evaluate whether supported practices are delivering their intended outcomes.

These applications are not specific recommendations made by the report, but they represent areas where innovation could help address the implementation and monitoring challenges it identifies.

Better Data for More Effective Agricultural Policy

The EU CAP Network study also introduces a methodology for estimating the potential contribution of CAP interventions to reducing nutrient pressures.

However, the authors acknowledge that the assessment is preliminary and that further improvements are needed in data availability, scientific coefficients and evaluation approaches.

The study should therefore be understood as an estimate of potential environmental effects, rather than definitive evidence of the full impact of CAP Strategic Plans across the European Union.

Nevertheless, its findings provide a useful basis for future evaluations and for improving the design of agricultural support measures.

They also demonstrate the growing importance of connecting agricultural policy with reliable environmental data and measurable outcomes.

Towards More Effective Nutrient Management in European Agriculture

The findings suggest that CAP interventions can support progress towards reducing nutrient pollution, particularly when they encourage practices with demonstrated environmental potential.

At the same time, the differences between planned and implemented measures show that policy ambition alone is not sufficient.

For Europe's agricultural sector, progress will depend on combining well-designed support instruments with practical farming solutions, effective implementation and better systems for measuring environmental performance.

This creates opportunities for cooperation between farmers, researchers, technology developers and policymakers in developing more sustainable and resource-efficient agricultural systems.

Source and Further Reading

EU CAP Network – European Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP

Rough estimate of the potential impact of the CAP Strategic Plans on nutrient balance over the 2023–2027 period

Published: 9 October 2026

Read the official publication and access the full report and executive summary

This article presents an independent overview of the study's main findings and their relevance for agricultural innovation. For the detailed methodology, assumptions and country-level results, readers should consult the original EU CAP Network publication.

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