Policies, research perspective and challenges on multifunctional land use

Abstract

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (Articles 32 to 38 in Title II of the EC Treaty of Rome - 25/03/1957) has played a major role in the process of European integration. It is one of the first fields for which the Member States transferred sovereignty to the European Community in order to define and apply uniform and harmonious rules. Several objectives were defined at the time: the main one was to guarantee food sufficiency for all, through enhanced productivity achieved by intensive production systems. Other objectives were to guarantee an equitable living standard for the agriculture population, market stability, and food security at reasonable prices for consumers. But it has also affected land use throughout Europe. In this paper we analyse the political context first, then the main challenges confronted by the CAP in relation to land use are analysed, next the responses sought by EU research programmes are presented and lastly, some of the issues that might need a policy response are developed. A brief conclusion is finally presented. © 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.