As Europe seeks to restore its degraded freshwater ecosystems, a key question comes into focus: is the EU’s main agricultural policy delivering on its environmental promises? In a new paper published in the special issue Wetlands in a Changing Climate: Restoring Coasts and Floodplains, Dr Josselin Rouillard examines whether the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023–2027 is effectively supporting freshwater restoration.

Ambition on paper, limited impact in practice

With a budget of €307 billion, the CAP is one of the EU's most powerful policy tools for shaping land and water management. Its "Green Architecture" combines mandatory standards, such as wetland protection and river buffer strips, with voluntary eco-schemes designed to support more sustainable practices. However, the findings point to a clear gap between design and delivery. Despite the availability of relevant instruments, most Member States have implemented them with limited ambition. Eco-schemes often prioritise maintaining existing practices rather than enabling large-scale restoration, and financial incentives remain too weak to drive meaningful change.

Structural barriers to freshwater restoration

At the same time, the policy continues to favour technical or "grey" solutions, such as drainage systems, over nature-based approaches that enhance water retention and restore ecosystems. This creates a structural lock-in, where current practices continue to degrade wetlands rather than support their recovery.

Even key safeguards show limitations. Measures intended to protect wetlands and peatlands tend to focus on preserving carbon stocks, with less emphasis on active ecosystem restoration. More broadly, less than 40% of Europe's surface waters are currently in good ecological condition, and progress has largely stalled over the past decade.  Recent policy adjustments have further weakened environmental ambition, highlighting the political and economic pressures shaping CAP implementation.

A critical moment for reform

As the CAP approaches its mid-term review, the paper underscores the need for stronger implementation and more targeted incentives. Without a shift towards outcome-based approaches and nature-based solutions, Europe risks missing a key opportunity to restore freshwater ecosystems. The message is clear: delivering real environmental impact will depend not only on policy design, but on how ambitiously it is put into practice.