This briefing by Alizée Kuhn and Melanie Muro (IEEP) summarises discussions from a TRAILS4SOIL event held at the European Parliament on 9 June 2026 on advancing the uptake of Regenerative and Conservation Agriculture Practices (ReCAP) across Europe.
This TRAILS4SOIL Science4Policy briefing event, co-organised by project partner IEEP – Institute for European Environmental Policy and the MEP Group on “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development”, explored how Regenerative and Conservation Agriculture Practices (ReCAP) can contribute to soil health, climate resilience, biodiversity protection and long-term farm viability.
Discussions pointed to a shared understanding that the main constraint to increasing the adoption of Regenerative and Conservation Agriculture is not the availability of technical solutions, but the broader enabling environment. Participants emphasised that financial risks during the transition period, combined with uncertain short-term returns and limited access to suitable financing, continue to discourage uptake.
At the same time, policy uncertainty and the lack of long-term, predictable support, particularly under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), limit farmers’ ability to plan and invest in soil health. Knowledge gaps and insufficient advisory services further complicate implementation, while existing market structures often fail to reward the environmental benefits delivered by farmers.
Overall, the discussion underscored that scaling ReCAP will depend on better alignment between policy frameworks, financial instruments and market incentives. Strengthening risk-sharing mechanisms, improving advisory support and ensuring more stable and outcome-oriented policies will be essential to enable sustained farm-level transitions and to support more resilient agricultural systems over time.