This chapter discusses principles and consequences of the common agricultural policy (CAP) of the European Community (EC). It shows that agricultural pricing policies aimed at supporting farm incomes were already in place in EC member countries before the inception of the CAP; indeed, in the presence of these policies, the CAP was a logical consequence of the extension of the common market to the agricultural sector. Thus, the flaws of the CAP can be traced back to national policies and attitudes toward agriculture. Recognition of the burden of agricultural support on the rest of the economy, as well as the growing budgetary costs, has elicited a greater public interest in the CAP. Equally, the trade frictions caused by export subsidies have underlined the CAP's international implications. For these reasons, the member states appear more determined than hitherto to bring agricultural expenditure under control. Given the wider effects of the CAP both on EC economies and the international community, it is to be hoped that current efforts at reform will be successful.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a unique agricultural policy worldwide. For many years, its status as the only common European Community (EC) policy governed by EC institutions put it at the heart of European integration. Today the CAP is not the only common European Union (EU) policy. Even while it remains the sole instance of a regionally integrated agricultural policy, the CAP no longer embodies the same degree of cross-national harmonization of agricultural policy among EC/EU member states that it once did. The CAP has undergone policy reforms in the past two decades and these reforms have spawned a host of questions. What has caused the CAP to reform? How path-breaking are CAP reforms? Are they consistent with founding CAP goals or do they encompass new ideas about agriculture’s place in the economy and society? And what are the consequences of agricultural policy reforms: for European farmers, consumers and taxpayers; for European ‘public goods’ such as environmental sustainability and preservation of rural communities and landscapes; and for third parties outside the EU, including the WTO? This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Integration.

The CAP has traditionally been at the core of the European Communities and even now consumes half of the European Union's budget. This book emphasizes the long-term link between the CAP and the budget. It examines the aims of the Common Agricultural Policy 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 factors that have shaped the 1992 and 1999 CAP reforms are outlined, with the latter, in particular, demonstrating the budget's effect on CAP and CAP reforms. The internationalization 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 title is published in conjunction with UACES, the University Association for Contemporary European Studies. UACES web site can be found at www.uaces.org

Extract: Present trends in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Community (EC), particularly increasing expenditures for agricultural support, will seriously affect the EC's ability to meet other policy needs and hinder enlargement of the Community to include Spain and Portugal. EC policymakers must either keep prices low directly or with producer taxes, or limit quantities covered by support measures. This report examines directions which the CAP may take in view of budgetary and enlargement pressures and indicates potential changes in EC policy.