Agricultural Policy in Europe

With continuing controversy about the future direction and powers of the EU, this groundbreaking book is essential reading for all those interested in European politics and public policy. Based on a comparative analysis of the UK, France, Poland, the Netherlands, Greece and Ireland, it argues that Europe has a Common Agricultural Policy in name only. Not only is policy more diverse than usually recognised, it also varies across different policy stages such as agenda-setting and implementation. Using up-to-date material on CAP reform, world trade liberalisation, animal disease, rural development and the environment, the book shows that this policy diversity is the result of a multilevel process in which global, regional and local actors play a key role alongside the EU. However nation states are central, and substantial policy variations reflect different national interests. Far from greater integration, the pressures for diversity have increased in recent years, notably through world trade liberalisation environmental concern and EU enlargement.