The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): Did the CAP learn from its past experience and its mistakes? (PDF)

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Economy - Environment economics, grade: 1,3, University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart, language: English, abstract: This essay deals with the question, whether the Common Agricultural Policy (=CAP) learned from its past experience and its mistakes.

This raises the subquestions if the new system improved in comparison to the old system and if fundamental changes happened. To answer these questions, firstly the CAP will be defined shortly, its historical development and data related to it will be analysed.

Secondly, the economic instruments behind the measures of the CAP will be explained to understand the logic of the development and its consequences. Thirdly, possible solutions are pointed out and a short conclusion sums up the main points and refers again to the main question.

The Common Agricultural Policy, short CAP, is a set of policies with the original main objective of raising farm incomes in the European Union (=EU). Other basic goals have been the creation of a common policy to secure the provision of food at reasonable prices, the stabilization of agricultural markets and to support the efficiency of agriculture.

Nowadays the objectives enlarged to the preservation of natural resources, environment, animal welfare and the support of the rural development. The regulation of the policy, directives and financing through the multiannual financial framework, is set by the EU and today the CAP amounts for nearly 40% of the EU budget.