The common agricultural policy

Book abstract:

The Common Agricultural Policy has traditionally been at the core of the European Communities and even now consumes half of the European Union's budget. This book emphasises the long-term link between the CAP and the budget. It examines the aims of the CAP as set out in the Treaty of Rome and discusses to what extent they have been achieved and whether they are relevant to the 21st Century. The book outlines the factors that have shaped the 1992 and 1999 CAP reforms with the latter, in particular, demonstrating the budget's effect on CAP and CAP reforms. The internationalisation of CAP with constraints being placed on it by the World Trade Organization is another important factor covered by the book. The 1999 reforms are measured against what may be allowed by the WTO and the demands of EU enlargement.

This book, volume 9 in the series Contemporary European Studies, explains some of the difficult concepts behind the CAP in terms that the student will understand.

The chapters are: The background to Government involvement in farming: the what, why and how of agricultural support policies in Europe; The development of the CAP: decisions on prices, indecision on reform; The pressures for reform of the CAP; New Century, old CAP?; Understanding the process of CAP reform; An assessment of the CAP: from Article 39 to Agenda 2000. These are followed by a comprehensive bibliography with further recommended reading.

Robert Ackrill is Senior Lecturer in Economics at Nottingham Trent University.