COMMON AGRUCULTURE POLICY IN EU
INTRODUCTION

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is comprised of a set of rules and mechanisms, which regulate the production, trade and processing of agricultural products in the European Union (EU), with attention being focused increasingly on rural development.

Among the EU’s policies, the CAP is regarded as one of the most important policy areas. Not only because of its share of the EU budget, the vast number of people and the extent of the territory directly affected, but also because of its symbolic significance, and the extent of sovereignty transferred from the national to the European level. The significance of the CAP, nowadays, is also portrayed by the fact that it is directly related to the Single Market and the EMU.

The Treaty of Rome defined the general objectives of a common agricultural policy. The principles were set out at the Stresa Conference in July 1958. In 1960, the CAP mechanisms were adopted by the six founding Member States and two years later, in 1962, the CAP came into force.

To explore the different aspects of this very significant EU policy, we will start by explaining the very first reasons of the creation of the CAP. Then, we will describe its objectives, its functionment and the way it is financed. We could thus make an assessment of the first consequences of the CAP for the EU and for the world that reached to important reforms of the policy. Finally, we will set out the different problems to be solved.






WHY THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY?


The Common Agricultural Policy was created primarily as a result of the Second World War and its effects on agriculture in Europe. Due to the post-war shortages it was realized that assistance was urgently required by the agricultural sector for development and investment purposes within this area. Agriculture was a main concern for Europe after the war with every country experiencing shortages and wishing to reach a level of self-sufficiency where-by they could produce all there agricultural produce needs by themselves. To aid the pursuit for self-sufficiency and correct the damage done to agriculture done by the war the Common Agricultural Policy was established.

Unfortunately the problem of agriculture has not disappeared and is not just a short-term problem attributable to the war but rather is an ongoing problem that is still getting worse.