Agricultural Policy and Enlargement of the European Union

About this book

The European Union (EU) could soon have up to ten new members from central and eastern Europe. Harmonization of agricultural policies will be one of the most difficult chapters in the accession of negotiations. The outcome will have an important influence on the development of these transition economies in a wider EU. This raises questions like: what are the current and future key issues in EU agricultural policy? what guidance is provided by the experience gained in previous enlargements? And to what extent are negotiating countries constrained by international commitments within the World Trade Organization? After a comprehensive description and evaluation of current EU agricultural and trade policy, the second part of the book looks at developments in central and eastern European countries in relation to future EU membership. Seventeen specialists have contributed their knowledge to this book. It is aimed at students and lecturers in agricultural and rural policy and in European integration, as well as government officials, agricultural policy and the widening of the European Union.

Contents

Part 1 Two perspectives: the functioning of agriculture and agribusiness in developed market economies; market integration and how it works. Part II The current EU policy context: EU institutions and the decision-making process for agricultural policy; current market and price policies in the EU; EU structural, rural and regional policy; reflections on the future of agricultural policy in the EU; the World Trade Organization and EU agricultural policy. Part III Two experiences of recent enlargements: EU agriculture and the monetary system; experience of EU accession for the agricultural system; experience of EU accession for the agricultural sector - Spain and Portugal. Part IV Current agrifood issues in the CEECs: experience of EU accession for the agricultural sector - Austria, Finland and Sweden; a decade of transition in central and eastern European agriculture; agricultural structures and institutions within central and eastern European countries; restructuring the agribusiness sector and the role of foregin direct investment; agricultural policies and agricultural policy perspectives for the CEECs entering the EU; widening the EU to central and eastern European countries.

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