Abstract
The most significant changes in agricultural policy since the 1947 Agriculture Act took place as a result of Britain’s entry into the EC in 1973. Until this time, British agriculture had been treated as a special case with legislative and financial support readily available for it. Accession to the Treaty of Rome had provided some continuity by recognizing, in principle, the need to assist farmers throughout Europe. The transfer of control from London to Brussels did not fundamentally alter the existing objectives of British agricultural policy, but it did lead to a fundamental adjustment in the way in which support was provided. Guaranteed prices and deficiency payments were replaced by a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) consisting of individual commodity price support regimes and import levies. The CAP was not implemented immediately in Britain but after a transition period during which the agricultural administration and support were adjusted to conform to the rest of the EC. A number of British agricultural policies were either phased out or substantially modified prior to Britain’s entry. Britain’s entry coincided with oil price rises implemented by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a commodity price explosion which undermined the stability of the world’s financial markets.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
M. Butterwick and E.N. Rolfe, Food Farming and The Common Market (Oxford University Press, 1968) p. 4.
For a detailed analysis of the operation of the CAP see D. Swann, The Economics of the Cormnon Market (London, Penguin, 1995) pp. 246–56.
J.K. Bowers and P. Cheshire, Agriculture, the Countryside and Land Use (Methuen, 1983) p. 91.
The denomination of the unit of account used for this purpose changed several times. For a more detailed analysis see H.A. Fearn and R.W. Irving, Green Money and the Common Agricultural Policy, Centre for European Agricultural Study, Occasional Paper No. 2 (Wye College, 1975).
D. Britton (ed.), Agriculture in Britain: Changing Pressures and Policies (CAB International Wallingford, 1990) p. 9.
C. Ritson and S. Tangermann, ‘The Economics and Politics of Money Compensatory Amounts’, European Review of Agricultural Economics, 6, 2 (1979) pp. 119–64.
CAS Report 7, The Efficiency of British Agriculture (Centre for Agricultural Strategy, 1980) p. 67.
R. Danziger, Political Powerlessness (Manchester University Press, 1988) p. 55.
B. Burkett and M. Bainbridge, ‘The Performance of British Agriculture and the Impact of the Common Agricultural Policy: An Historical Review’, Rural History, 1–2 (1990) p. 265.
R. Howarth, Farming for Farmers (Hobart Paperback 20, Institute of Economic Affairs, 1985) p. 127.
A.E. Buckwell, D.R. Harvey, K.J. Thomson and K.A. Parton, The Cost of the Common Agricultural Policy (Croom Helm, 1982) p. 169.
National Consumer Council, Consumers and the CAP (HMSO, 1988) p. 35.
J. Ockenden and M. Franklin (European Agriculture — Making the CAP Fit (Pinter, London, 1995) p. 5.
S. Winyard, Cold Comfort Farm: A Study of Farm Workers on Low Pay (Low Pay Unit, London, 1982).
Cmnd 9137, Annual Review of Agriculture (HMSO, 1984) p. 2.
R. Body, The Triumph and the Shame (Aldershot: Temple Smith, 1982) pp. 124–5.
W.B. Traill, Land Values and Rent: The Gains and Losses from Farm Price Support Programmes, Department of Agricultural Economics Bulletin 175 (University of Manchester, 1980)
W.B. Trail, ‘The Effect of Price Support Policies on Agricultural Investment, Employment, Farm Incomes and Land Values in the UK’, Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. XXXIII, No. 3 (1982) pp. 369–85.
T.A. Lloyd, A. Rayner and C. Orme, ‘On Modelling Land Prices in England and Wales’, paper presented to Agricultural Economics Society Conference: ‘The Agricultural Land Market’ (1989).
D.R. Harvey and J.K. Thomson, ‘Costs Benefits and the Future of the Common Agricultural Policy’, Journal of Common Market Studies (1985) 24(1) pp. 1–20.
W.B. Traill, ‘The Effect of Price Support Policies on Agricultural Investment, Employment, Farm Incomes and Land Values in the UK’, Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. XXXIII, No. 3 (1982) p. 381.
Cmnd 7599, Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Acquisition and Occupancy of Agricultural Land (HMSO, 1979) pp. 121–2.
G. Brown, ‘Costs and benefits of CAP Price Policies — a Danish perspective’ in P.C. van den Noort (ed.) Costs and Benefits of Agricultural Policies and Projects, Proceedings of the European Association of Agricultural Economists XXIInd Symposium (Kiel Wissenschaftsverlag Vauk, 1990).
MAFF, Farm Incomes in the UK 1991/2 (HMSO).
M. Bell, and R.G.H. Bunce, Agriculture and Conservation in the Hills and Uplands (ITE, NERC, 1987) p. 66.
N. Penford and I. Francis, ‘Common Land and Nature Conservation in England and Wales’, British Wildlife, 2(2) (1990), pp. 65–76.
R. Tompkins, ‘The Impact of transferable milk quotas on asset values in the UK dairy sector’, paper presented to the Agricultural Economics Society Postgraduate Conference, Aberystwyth 1996.
D.J. Ansell and R.B. Tranter, Set-aside in Theory and Practice (CAS, University of Reading, 1992) p. 26.
MAFF Our Farming Future (MAFF London, 1991) p. 2.
L. Hewes, ‘The Conservation of the American Soil Bank as an indicator of regions of maladjustment in Agriculture’, Weiner Geographische Schriften 24/29 (1967) 331–46
C.A. Potter, Environmental Protection and Agricultural Adjustment: Lessons from the American Experience, Set-aside Working Paper No. 1, Department of Environmental Studies and Countryside Planning, (Wye College; Ashford, Kent, 1986).
For a more detailed analysis, see N. Hawke, A. Robinson, N. Kovaleva, Setaside Its Legal Framework (De Montfort University, 1994).
N.R. Lampkin and M. Measures, 1995/6 Organic Farm Management Handbook (Welsh Institute of Rural Studies, 1995) p. 138.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2000 John Martin
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Martin, J. (2000). The Common Agricultural Policy. In: The Development of Modern Agriculture. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230599963_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230599963_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-39602-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-59996-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)