Audit will assess whether the EU’s agriculture policy has contributed to maintaining and enhancing biodiversity by 2020

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Audit will assess whether the EU’s agriculture policy has contributed to maintaining and enhancing biodiversity by 2020

21 May 2019
News
Biodiversity encompasses the variety of ecosystems, habitats and species on which human beings are dependent.

It also has social and economic value. Biodiversity in the EU is in a continuous, strong decline. The largest contributor to biodiversity loss is agriculture. 

The EU adopted its most recent Biodiversity Strategy in 2011. The strategy contains a set of targets and actions to halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2020. The main EU tools addressing farmland biodiversity derive from the common agricultural policy (CAP). 

The European Court of Auditors is carrying out an audit to assess whether the EU’s agriculture policy has contributed to maintaining and enhancing biodiversity by 2020. In particular, we will examine the design of the current EU biodiversity strategy and the CAP legal framework, as well as the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the different EU-financed measures promoting biodiversity. The audit includes visits to the Commission and relevant authorities in five Member States (Germany, Ireland, Poland, Cyprus and Romania).