The CAP goes green

The 2013 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy has seen an unprecedented greening of the CAP. For the first time since its creation the CAP has made environmental protection a central objective. While the issue of global warming has certainly played a role greening has also been motivated by other factors. Indeed greening also serves to legitimise and justify the maintenance of the Common Agricultural Policy which is increasingly under fire from other European policies. These other motivations explain why greening is not always perceived as living up to expectations. From an environmental point of view the question remains whether greening is light or dark green?