Does the CAP fit? The regionalisation of the common agricultural policy

Abstract

This paper traces the development of regional farm policies under the aegis of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). lt is suggested that policy's nexibility in respect of different regional circumstances has critically depended on its role in the European integration proccss. As long as the CAP has remaincd the cornerstonc of this process, its common pricing policy has remained sacrosanct. dcspite its regressive features. Successive Community enlargements and cvidencc or widening regional form disparities have prompted more spatially variable farm policy measures. Post-Maastricht, the principles established by these policy developments can conceivably be supportcd by the removal of common pricing.