Towards a Sustainable European Agricultural Policy for the 21st Century. Report of the CEPS Task Force on the Common Agricultural Policy in the 21st century: DOHA, mid-term review, and enlargement. CEPS Task Force Reports No. 42, 1 September 2002

Abstract

The debate on agricultural policy in the EU has been very lively and politically prominent over the past months. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU has undergone major changes since it was first implemented at the end of the 1960s. Commentators suggest that the CAP changes made in the Agenda 2000 reform package were insufficient to address the problems facing the CAP in the coming years. These include enlargement, new trade negotiations and the demand by European society for a safe, sustainable agri-food system, to name but a few. This report highlights the most pressing challenges to creating a sustainable CAP for the 21st century. It focuses on strategic policy options that are closely linked to the CAP system to be ‘hands on’; but the report refrains from becoming too specific on policy details, focusing instead on the important strategic questions. It offers six recommendations for good governance, that aim to remove bureaucratic constraints from the food industry, yet strengthen consistency and good practice