Law of the Common Agricultural Policy

Book abstract:

One of the most controversial of all Community policies - the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) - is the focus of this book, another in the Longman European Law series.

'Law of the Common Agricultural Policy' examines the legal aspects of the policy from its inception in 1957 with the Treaty of Rome up to the changes agreed at the Berlin European Council in March 1999. The book highlights the problems facing the policy as it seeks to evolve to meet the challenges of the coming years. These include a greater concern with the environmental impact of agriculture, eastern enlargement of the Community, and the role of CAP in the relationship of the Community with both developing countries and the World Trade Organisation.

The book opens with two chapters which provide the history of CAP, place it in the context of other Community policies and outline its objectives. The next three chapters each tackle one of the three fundamental principles which lie at the heart of the CAP: common prices, common financing and community preference. The sixth chapter looks at the roles of structural and regional policy in CAP in addition to its relationship with environmental policy, particularly the Agenda 2000 document. The international dimension of CAP comes under the spotlight in chapter seven with a discussion of GATT and the Uruguay Round. The final chapter examines the long-term outlook for CAP and two potential problems, in particular the enlargement of the Community and the internal adaptation of the existing policy.

This book will help undergraduate students of EC law in their appreciation of the general principles underpinning CAP. It may also be valuable to postgraduate students of EC law and European integration.

The author, Joseph A McMahon, teaches at the Faculty and School of Law, Queen's University of Belfast.