The Common Agriculture Policy (CAP): Achievements and future prospects

Abstract

This paper aims to offer an analysis of the Common Agriculture Policy over the past 60 years. Taking the poor conditions of European agriculture between the two world wars as a starting point, this analysis considers the reasons that compelled the EU founding fathers to insert agriculture among the key sectors seen to further integration. Furthermore, this study aims to demonstrate how the protectionist attitude adopted by the European Commission actually arose from a long tradition of intervention by national governments in almost every European State. As a matter of fact, the CAP was initially characterised, on the one hand, by a protectionist approach and, on the other hand, by a strong productivist attitude, in order to both guarantee European food independence and support farm incomes. These goals were attained, thanks to a price support system, which became very expensive with respect to the available EEC budget. In the 1980s, the European Commission came under the pressure of both national governments and economic globalisation, and consequently reviewed the CAP, thereby contributing towards a change of paradigm in the European agricultural sector. As a result of three main reforms—the MacSharry Reform (1992), the Agenda 2000 (1999) and the Fischler Reform (2003)—the CAP has become more centred on a multifunctional approach based on two principal pillars: Firstly, aid towards food production, i.e. direct support to farmers, and, secondly, initiatives promoting the development of sustainable agriculture, according to an “agroecological” perspective, which allows for the protection of nature, as well as of regional cultures and traditions.