The European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is facing fundamental changes. The legislative proposals published by the European Commission in July 2025 for the period 2028 to 2034 envisage a restructuring of CAP financing and governance. In future, Member States are expected to have greater flexibility in designing agricultural support measures. This raises the question of how biodiversity and environmental protection can be ensured under the future CAP and what options for action are available to Germany.

The project "The CAP post 2027 – Preserving and Promoting Biodiversity" (CAPpost2027) examines the potential impacts of the reform proposals on agri-environmental support and biodiversity protection in Germany. Its aim is to identify opportunities, risks and trade-offs associated with the planned restructuring and to develop policy options for a biodiversity-friendly design of the CAP post 2027. The project also considers European and national biodiversity objectives as well as the feasibility of implementation within Germany's multi-level governance system.

Ecologic Institute is carrying out the project jointly with Humboldt University of Berlin. The project focuses on the following activities:

• Analysis and assessment of the legislative proposals for the CAP 2028–2034 with regard to agri-environmental support and biodiversity protection.
• Development of four scenarios for the future design of agri-environmental support in Germany and assessment of their ecological, economic, social and administrative impacts.
• Development of policy options to strengthen biodiversity-supporting instruments and make use of national flexibility in policy design.
• Expert exchange and monitoring of political developments through interviews, expert discussions and events, as well as the assessment of current developments in the CAP reform process.

The project results are intended to provide a scientifically sound basis for assessing the CAP reform and developing concrete, feasible options to strengthen biodiversity protection in German agricultural policy.

The project is funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) and will run until autumn 2028.