The Common Agricultural Policy vis-a-vis European pastoralists: principles and practices

This article reviews how the European Union Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) currently addresses pastoralists' needs in Europe, and could further contribute to sustainable management of pastoral areas. The CAP provides a set of financial subsidies to farmers in the form of market, income and rural development support. We first present a brief overview of the CAP, its basic principles, the available instruments, recent developments and finally discuss the future challenges and potentials for pastoralists in the European Union.