Agroecology requires policy frameworks that account for the economic, environmental and social dimensions of farming. A policy brief published in June 2026 by Agroecology-TRANSECT examines whether indicators used to design, monitor and evaluate four key European Union policies adequately reflect the needs of agroecology: the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Climate Law, the Nature Restoration Regulation and the Soil Monitoring Law. The Horizon Europe project, co-financed by the European Commission, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, compared policy indicators with those considered relevant by agroecology practitioners across 11 living laboratories in 10 EU Member States, drawing on scientific literature to identify relevant themes.

The analysis identified 82 indicators used in the four policies and 67 indicators considered relevant by practitioners, covering four dimensions: farm socio-economic performance, biodiversity, climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation. Of the 28 themes identified in the scientific literature, policy indicators covered 25, while practitioner indicators covered 21. All 28 themes showed at least one mismatch between policy and practitioner indicators. These included missing themes such as genetic composition, species traits and temperature regulation, differences in indicator selection, and discrepancies in definitions and measurement scales. For example, policies use pesticide sales to assess farm management, whereas practitioners favour pesticide use; policy indicators are also generally measured at regional, national or EU level rather than at farm or field scale.

To address these gaps, the brief recommends introducing 16 new indicators and revising six existing ones, using available data sources and established methods to limit monitoring costs. The recommendations are particularly relevant to the CAP 2028–2034 and its planned move towards greater flexibility for Member States and result-based payments. Better-aligned indicators could strengthen policy accountability, support agroecology and reduce dependence on external inputs.