The Common Agricultural Policy
| Author | Maurice Zinkin |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711788700900201 |
| Published date | 01 October 1987 |
| Date | 01 October 1987 |
97
THE
COMMON
AGRICULTURAL
POLICY
MAURICE
ZINKIN
NOBODY
IN
Britain
approves
of
the
Common
Agricultural
Policy
(CAP).
’Ludicrous’
and
’monstrous’
are
among
the
politer
terms
applied
to
it.
The
need
to
reform
it
must
be
the
one
subject
on
which
Mrs
Thatcher
and
Mr
Kinnock
see
eye
to
eye.
Yet
it
is
monstrously
difficult
to
reform.
Any
proposal
meets
with,
resi-
stance
from
some
of the
member
States;
the
United
Kingdom
itself
has
fought
some
skilful
rearguard
actions
where
its
own
interests
were
concerned.
Why
is
reform
so
difficult?
Is
there
something
wrong
with
the
objectives
of
the
CAP?
or
with
its
machinery?
Is
it
that
the
world
has
changed
since
the
policy
was
formulated,
and
policy
has
not
adapted
quickly
enough?
Is
it
the
way
decisions
are
made,
by
Agriculture
Ministers
and
normally
unanimously?
Is
it
the
power
.
of
vested
interests
or
the
complexity
of
the
purposes
the
policy
is
attempting
to
serve?
Would
a
return
to
a
freer,
if
not
a
free,
market
solve
the
problem
orwould
that
be
ruinous
for
the
countryside
and
the
whole
rural
community?
What
hope
is
there
of
some
agreement
coming
out
of
the
negotiations
which
are
just
beginning
in
the
GATT
on
agricultural
trade?
The
Objectives
It
is
difficult
to
find
fault
with
the
objectives
of
the
CAP,
as
laid
down
in
Art.
39 of
the
Treaty
of
Rome
and
subsequently
expanded
by
the
Resolutions
of
the
Stresa
Conference
of
Ministers.
Art.
39
is
worth
quoting
in
full.
&dquo;l.
The
objectives
of
the
common
agricultural
policy
shall
be
a)
to
increase
agricultural
productivity
by
promoting
tech-
nical
progress
and
by
ensuring
the
rational
development
of
agricultural
production
and
the
optimum
utilisation
of
factors
of
production,
in
particular
labour
b)
thus
to
ensure
a
fair
standard
of living
for
the
agricultural .
community,
in
particular
by
increasing
the
individual
earnings
of
persons
engaged
in
agriculture
c)
to
stabilize
markets
d)
to
ensure
that
supplies
reach
consumers
at
reasonable
prices
2.
In
working
out
the
common
agricultural
policy
and
the
special
methods
for
its
application,
account
shall
be
taken
of
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