The Possibility of Radical Reform?

Abstract

The analysis presented in this book suggests that the politics of the CAP are such that truly radical reform of the policy is very difficult to achieve. Exogenous shocks to the system have produced significant changes in policy, and the impact of CEEC membership may produce such a shock in the future. However, these policy changes have often been diluted during the process of implementation, or their effect has been offset by changes in the world market situation, as happened with the MacSharry reforms. A single member state cannot block policy change completely, but a small group of states adversely affected by a proposed shift in policy can dilute it to such an extent that its impact is muted. Britain is as capable as any other member state of acting to protect its particular interests, as it did with its opposition to modulation during the MacSharry reforms.