The majority of recent publications on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union address current issues and specific applications. There is little available which attempts to increase understanding of the nature of existing policies, their development, intentions, problems and successes.

The aim of this book is to improve knowledge and understanding of the ‘policy process’ and its application to the CAP, focussing on the principles of policy analysis. For while the details of agricultural and environmental policies evolve, the principles upon which they are based endure. The author uses economics as a basis for his exploration, as fairly simple economics holds the key to understanding many of the fundamental pressures to which agriculture and rural areas are subject. He explains the importance of the political and administrative context in which the process occurs, acknowledging the influence of environmental and sociological concerns.

Such knowledge of the conceptual framework of the ‘policy process’ and its application to the CAP is essential for all concerned with agriculture and rural livelihoods, both within the European Union and in those countries trading with the EU. This includes both students and professionals. The book provides an understanding of these principles in terms of how and why policy changes, thus increasing the efficiency and efficacy of the process.

1. Understanding the Policy Process: What is Policy?
2. Understanding the Agricultural Problems and Policy Objectives of the European Union
3. Understanding the Policy Decision-Making Process in the European Union
4. Evidence-Based Policy: Information and Statistics for Policy Decisions
5. Understanding the Mechanisms used to Implement the CAP
6. Understanding the Support of Agriculture in the EU: Pillar 1 of the CAP (Direct Payments and Market Support)
7. Understanding the Support of Agriculture and Rural Development in the EU: Pillar 2 of the CAP
8. Understanding CAP and the Environment: The Environmental Part of Pillar 2
9. The European Union and Agricultural Trade and Development
10. Understanding the Costs of the CAP: Budget and Finance
11. Understanding the Assessment (Evaluation) of the CAP and Rural Policy
12. Understanding the History of the CAP and European Policy
12a. Annex to Chapter 12: A Chronology of the EU and CAP