Reforms of the Community Agrarian Policy: Misconception or New Agricultural Architecture?

Abstract

The European Union is the most complex and by any aspect the most unique example of a regional economic integration. Its origin, evolution and survival are based on a common legislative and institutional framework. The so-called common policies implemented in a number of economic and non-economic areas are particularly distinctive. Most of them are implemented on two levels: national and communal. The only common policy that is fully implemented at the European Union level is the Community Agrarian Policy (CAP), whereas the agriculture has the highest expenditure in the communal budget. The function of CAP is primarily economic as its goals are strictly related to economic issues: price stability of agricultural products, productivity growth, higher wages for the farmers, etc. The CAP strengthens the Union’s social cohesion, which is of utmost importance in times of constant crises, BREXIT and other extreme instabilities. For this reason, the CAP has been in the processes of continuous reforms (MacShary, Mansholt and those of recent times) for decades, in order to increase its efficiency and justify enormous financial investments. The CAP results depend on the achievement of preset objectives and the exchange of agricultural products and food that the European Union generates globally. It has been demonstrated that the CAP is a significant common policy, both in achieving economic goals and in the sphere of strengthening communal cohesion.