The European Union (EU), comprised of 15 member states (countries), is one of the United States’ chief agricultural trading partners and also a major competitor in world markets. Both heavily support their agricultural sectors, with a large share of such support concentrated on wheat, feed grains, cotton, oilseeds, sugar, dairy, and tobacco. However, the EU provides more extensive support to a broader range of farm and food products. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the EU and United States in 2001 together accounted for nearly two-thirds of all government support to agriculture among the major developed economies. However, EU agricultural spending generally is much higher than in the United States. Information comparing how the U.S. and EU governments support their producers is expected to be of interest to policymakers while negotiations are underway among world trading partners to further reform agricultural trade.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is central to both economic and environmental developments in Europe. But with the advent of new environmental legislation and political change in Europe the CAP faces increasing pressure to reform. European Agriculture provides a comprehensive breakdown of the workings of the CAP and its impact on farming in Europe. The author discusses every aspect of European agricultural policy, production and trade, from environmental contraints and the impact of biotechnology, to the role of European farming in the world food supply system. Posing direct questions about the recent 1992 agricultural reform, the 1994 GATT agreement and the reasons for the expensive continuation of the CAP, European Agriculture analyses the economic, political and environmental implications of pursuing present farming policy and provides a provocative commentary on the agricultural future of Europe.

This book provides a stimulating account of agricultural policy which goes beyond a narrow concern with the mechanisms and operation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and instead constructs a broader canvas, developing an assessment of the relationship between national, international and supranational institutions and actors in the agricultural sector. Among the theses covered by the book are: the different national policy styles across Europe in this sector; the evolution of the CAP; safety and regulation, the environment, and technological developments in food production such as genetic engineering.

This volume is a study of present and future Common Agricultural Policy in the European Union. It focuses on the practicality of policy proposals in the face of huge challenges, especially in the context of EU enlargement to the east.