Analysis: Reform deal takes CAP one step forward but two steps back

摘要

By a remarkable coincidence, last week's political agreement on CAP reform was concluded 10 years to the day after the Farm Council struck a deal on the last major agricultural policy reform — the Fischer package of 2003. That accord signalled a newera for EU agricultural policy, with its focus on a decoupled direct aid payment which would liberate farmers to produce what the market wanted, rather than keep producing a specific product to receive a specific type of subsidy. Market support mechanisms were scaled back, and more money was transferred into rural development.