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In the EU countries changes were less dramatic, but
the usage
of both manure and chemical fertilisers decreased
widely.
In Germany, particularly in the east, the total area
of farmland
shrank considerably during the 1990s. In Finland many
farms
also stopped operating, and phosphorus emissions from
agricultural sources declined significantly, as they
had earlier
in Sweden.
The reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in
the EU in the early 1990s involved overall reductions
in farm
subsidies, and new incentives to promote
environmentally
favourable agricultural practices. Requirements for
subsidies now
include the adoption of farming practices designed to
minimise
animal waste and fertiliser runoff. The CAP is now
also being
gradually
adopted by the countries hoping to join the EU, so
within a few
years a common set of agricultural policies and
subsidies should cover ten of the region's fourteen
countries.