The limits of common agricultural policy reform and the option of denationalization

Abstract

The MacSharry reforms are the latest stage in a series of attempts to overhaul the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). These reforms have prevented further deterioration in terms of budgetary costs and surpluses, but have not solved the underlying problems of the CAP which include contradictory goals unmatched by a sufficient number of policy instruments. The objectives of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) are likely to be difficult to achieve. Analyses of the decline of the farm lobby are misplaced. Enlargement will place further strains on the CAP, especially if East European countries are eventually admitted. The policy option of renationalization recognizes the limits of the CAP as an integrative mechanism and seeks to create a new and more balanced partnership between the European Union and member states.