The Special Status of Agriculture: Why is the CAP an exceptional policy?

The memo explains why and to what extent agriculture is privy to rules applied nowhere else in other parts of EU law. These rules are in fact the result of sectoral logic that make the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) impermeable to environmental concerns. The CAP reform under discussion in the EU forum offers the opportunity to overcome past shortcomings if the co-legislators decide to change their approach and support farmers in tackling the climate and environmental crises.