Energy Use, Costs and Economic Resilience of EU Agriculture: The Role and Potential of CAP Eco-Schemes in Reducing Energy Intensity

Agriculture in the European Union is a large energy user, dependent on fossil fuels and energy-intensive inputs. Farm incomes are vulnerable to volatile energy prices and climate risks, which threaten their economic resilience. The reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) introduces eco-schemes as a central instrument that may reduce energy intensity and dependence on fossil-based resources. This review examines how CAP instruments—and eco-schemes in particular—are analyzed as drivers of farm energy use, energy intensity, and economic resilience. It maps the literature within a three-pillar framework (energy indicators, CAP instruments, income/resilience outcomes) and identifies where the intersection of these dimensions remains weakly exploredand income/resilience outcomes) and identifies where the intersection of these dimensions remains underexplored. We classify publications by combinations of these three dimensions and by the main groups of CAP instruments. The results reveal a narrow three-pillar core, a dominance of studies that link CAP to income and resilience without explicit energy indicators, and only fragmentary evidence on the energy effects of policy instruments. Research on eco-schemes focuses predominantly on environmental effects and institutional design, while the energy dimension is integrated only to a limited extent. Drawing on this evidence, we propose a conceptual framework linking eco-scheme design, the structure of on-farm energy costs, and the resilience of farm incomes.