With farmers managing almost half of the EU's land area, the agricultural sector is a major source of pressure on Europe's environment. Over the past five decades, the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) — accounting for around half of the EU budget — has encouraged the sector to become more and more intensive, as has the growing globalisation of the world's economy.

As a result, the agricultural sector is responsible for a large share of the pollution of surface waters and seas by nutrients, for the loss of biodiversity, and for pesticide residues in groundwater. Reforms of the CAP in the 1990s, and measures taken by the sector itself, have brought about some improvements, but more is needed to balance agricultural production, rural development, and the environment.