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Mountain grazing systems, based since ancient times on common land, are finding it increasingly challenging to ensure their economic viability. Although marginal in productive terms, these systems are high-value natural areas that provide multiple benefits for society (e.g. biodiversity and ecosystem services). They are usually studied from an institutional or local perspective, but little is known about how mountain common land interacts with policies at a higher level, e.g. the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) in Europe. This study assesses the contribution of the commons to the persistence of mountain sheep grazing systems in Europe under the CAP. To that end, we analyse economic and land use data on 20 farms in the mountain common grazing lands of Aralar (Basque Country, northern Spain). We find that CAP payments associated with common land account for 42% of net margin while the resources …