This thesis focuses on the evolving legal dynamic between the European Community and the
World Trade Organisation in the area of Agriculture.The WTO's Agreement on Agriculture does not exist in isolation, but interacts with many of the
balance of the Annex 1A agreements, which are attached to the Agreement Establishing the WTO.
In addition the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the agreement on Trade
Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) both have their part to play in the global
trade of agricultural commodities. The provisions of these agreements and their associated dispute
settlement rulings are having an increasingly profound impact on the EC's Common Agricultural
Policy, and its allied policy areas, such as the Common Customs Policy, its Generalised System of
Preferences, and its Development Policy relationships, in particular with the Afro-CaribbeanPacific countries. The nexus between these two evolving legal jurisdictions, is mediated through
the EC's Common Commercial Policy, with this relationship having been subject of its own line
ofjurisprudence at the ECJ. Each of these factors in the dynamic between these two levels of
governance on the legal framework dealing with agriculture are examined in turn, with the
relationship to date being critically analysed, with potential developments for the future being
forecasted.The reaction of the EC to this external force, with the adoption of the concept of the
multifunctionality of EC agriculture, which has been added to an equally legally challenging
concept of sustainability, has resulted in the development of Pillar II of the CAP, which presages
the emergence of a new EC Rural Policy. A number of the emerging ideas from within the EC
which might be applied to such a new EC Rural Policy are also examined. To the extent that the
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synergy between these two legal systems dealing with agriculture are affected by allied policy
considerations, such as health and consumer affairs, competition law and environmental standards,
these other areas are also discussed.The thesis has as its focus agricultural commodities generally, which are the subject matter of the
WTO Agreement on Agriculture, (therein classified as HS 1-24, less fish and fish products), but
where the thesis does focus on specific commodities, these are agricultural commodities of the
temperate regions of the EC
