ali CAP layout 18/10/02 4:36 PM Page 1
A Common Agricultural fund Breaking the CAP stalemate Richard Ali
Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is back on the table once again—not that it has ever been absent for long. With the inter-governmental conference out of the way, the European Commission is due to present a major package of reforms during the summer of 1997. They will be designed to prepare the EU’s agricultural sector for the challenges of enlargement and the next WTO trade round. Britain’s new Labour government, like its predecessor, has put agricultural reform at the top of its European agenda, and has pledged that it will be a priority during its presidency of the European Union in the first half of 1998. For many years most economists, if not most politicians, have argued that not only has the CAP been expensive for taxpayers, consumers and the environment, but that ultimately it has proved unable to maintain farming incomes and sustain rural communities. Proponents of radical change invariably believe that there should be a de-coupling of financial support from production. But the stumbling block has been reconciling this with every member-state’s determination to see their juste retour or fair share of the EU budget.