Access to land is the first step to becoming a farmer and, too often, the hardest one. Across Europe, young people who want to grow food, protect the land and launch their business find few opportunities to begin. Farmland is expensive, scarce, or bound by complex inheritance systems that delay transfers and discourage early succession.
The newly launched EU Strategy for Generational Renewal in Agriculture places land at the heart of its vision, helping new farmers gain a foothold and ensuring that Europe’s farmland remains productive, fair and sustainable for generations to come.
Why land access matters
Land is the backbone of Europe’s food security, rural economy and environment. It sustains biodiversity, underpins millions of jobs and keeps rural communities alive. Yet access remains uneven: most older farmers own their land, while younger ones depend on leases, managing millions of hectares as tenants (15 million) rather than owners (10 million).
Rising prices, short-term contracts and speculative acquisitions make it increasingly difficult for newcomers to invest or plan ahead. Without easier and fairer access, Europe risks losing not only its next generation of farmers, but also the stability of its food systems and the vitality of its rural landscapes.
New solutions taking root across Europe
The EU CAP Network’s Assessment of Generational Renewal Strategies across Member States (2025) has mapped national and regional instruments across Europe which are already advancing innovative ways to make farmland more accessible and transitions smoother. These approaches show that practical reforms can unlock renewal, including:
- Farm transfer and succession schemes that simplify early handovers, giving retiring farmers security and successors a viable start.
- Land banks and matching platforms that connect available plots with new entrants, keeping farmland in productive use.
- Public guarantees and tailored loan schemes that lower the cost of purchasing or leasing land.
- Cooperative and shared models that allow farmers to pool land, tools and expertise, fostering inclusion and efficiency.
Together, these examples prove that when policy and practice align, land can once again become an open door, not a locked gate.
A European strategy for lasting change
The EU Strategy for Generational Renewal in Agriculture builds on the analytical work and evidence gathered by the EU CAP Network across Member States, bringing these efforts together under a coherent European framework.
The Strategy encourages transparency, long-term planning and fairer conditions for land use and transfer by promoting a series of key measures:
- a European Land Observatory to increase transparency, track market trends and discourage speculation;
- national reforms for earlier succession, longer leases and more favorable taxation, steered through the European Semester;
- targeted investment aid and financial tools under the CAP post-2027, enabling young farmers to buy, lease or improve land;
- new measures to reuse abandoned land, reduce transaction costs and prioritise young farmers in public land allocation.
By combining these actions, the EU aims to make farming a viable and rewarding career once again. The goal? Securing Europe’s food supply, strengthening rural life, and passing farmland on to those ready to cultivate the future.
For more information
Press release: Commission proposes measures to support generational renewal in agriculture to secure Europe’s food, farming and rural future
Communication: Strategy for generational renewal in agriculture (PDF)
Generational renewal in agriculture
CAP Network study on the best practices in Member States
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