Determinants Of Agricultural Policies In The United States And The European Community

Evolution of agricultural policies in the United States and France, 1930-80; The U.S. Dairy production stabilization act of 1983; Confrontation between the United States and the European Community on International Trade of Agricultural products.

Understanding why agricultural policies of developed countries are what they are is critical on several accounts for the developed countries as a group and for individual countries. It is important because the inter-dependencies among national agricultural policies are so numerous, as illustrated by the ongoing agricultural trade confrontation between the United States and the European Community; confrontation that is vividly expressed in the current subsidy war between the two trading blocs. The stakes for developing countries are also very high because the domestic agricultural policies of these two giants have a considerable influence on the international markets of major agricultural commodities.Studying why policies are what they are is an important research issue: legitimate in its own right on scientific grounds and relevant for any institution dealing with agricultural policies. Thus, it is only fitting that an international research institute dealing with food policy should analyze developed country policies and actions. This book is a further development of a research report by Michel Petit, ``Determinants of Agricultural Policies in the United States and the European Community'', published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and is written by a team of eminent European scholars from a variety of organisations called together by Michel Petit and working under his leadership. Concentrating on the policy process in the European Community, this research provides useful insights on the influence of domestic, economic and political factors in shaping the positions of member countries in Community negotiations and on the process leading to a Community policy decision.

Despite a gradual and sustained decline in the contribution of agriculture to the economies of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the sector remains socially and politically important. Although agriculture accounts for less than 2% of the gross domestic product of the OECD countries, it occupies over 35% of their total land area. Predominantly rural regions, where agriculture remains particularly important, contain almost one quarter of the population of OECD countries. The past quarter century has witnessed signi?cant changes in agricultural po- cies in OECD countries. Although total support remains high, a shift has taken place from price-linked measures to direct income support, most notably in the European Union. Policies have been adapted to meet pressing social concerns, such as ens- ing food security and improving environmental quality. OECD countries face major economic issues due to the ageing of their populations and the need to adapt to gl- alization and increasing competition from emerging economies. Continued pressure to reform agricultural policies will be exerted by the need to economize on the use of scarce public resources. At the same time, agriculture faces new challenges g- erated by climate change, the “greening” of the economy, increasing scarcity of energy and water, and the demands placed on the food system by an expanding world population.

This book presents a descriptive analysis of the political economy of the European Community, the U.S. and Canada. It describes the structural changes and the crises in agriculture and focuses on impact of GATT on agricultural policy and trade in the post-Second World War era.

After five years of debates, consultations and negotiations, the European institutions reached an agreement in 2013 on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the 2014-2020 period. The outcome has major implications for the EU’s budget and farmers’ incomes, but also for Europe’s environment, its contribution to global climate change and to food security in the EU and in the world. It was decided to spend more than €400 billion during the rest of the decade on the CAP. The official claims are that the new CAP will take better account of society's expectations and lead to far-reaching changes by making subsidies fairer and ‘greener’ and making the CAP more efficient. It is also asserted that the CAP will play a key part in achieving the overall objective of promoting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. However, there is significant scepticism about these claims and disappointment with the outcome of the decision-making, the first in which the European Parliament was involved under the co-decision procedure. In contrast to earlier reforms where more substantive changes were made to the CAP, the factors that induced the policy discussions in 2008-13 and those that influenced the decision-making did not reinforce each other. On the contrary, they sometimes counteracted one another, yielding an ‘imperfect storm’ as it were, resulting in more status quo and fewer changes. This book discusses the outcome of the decision-making and the factors that influenced the policy choices and decisions. It brings together contributions from leading academics from various disciplines and policy-makers, and key participants in the process from the European Commission and the European Parliament.

This annual report monitors and evaluates agricultural policies spanning all six continents, including the 36 OECD countries, the five non-OECD EU Member States, and 13 emerging economies.