Newsletter on the common agricultural policy.

This title was first published in 2000: The central aim of the Common Agricultural Policy is to support the incomes of farmers, yet reliable information on the overall incomes of farmers and their households is scarce. In general, farmers in the EU are not a low-income or poor sector of society and much of the present CAP income support goes to those that are relatively well-off. This book, the 3rd edition to address these issues, has been updated and expanded to include: updated coverage of statistics and references; the major changes in methodology of income measurement flowing from the 1995 revision of the European System of Accounts; a critical examination of wealth and balance sheets for the agricultural industry as currently calculated; incorporation of material from Japan and countries in Central and Eastern Europe that are candidates for EU membership.

Until about 1970, Western Europe was regarded as the great food-importing region of the world. Over the next 15 years it also became a major food exporter. This study, originally published in 1985, analyses the expansionary policies of individual nations, as well as those of the Community itself, which have helped produce this momentous reversal of Western Europe’s traditional role. The phenomenon in the international food market is reviewed within the context of the economic and political forces responsible for changes in Western European agriculture during the late 20th Century.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been supporting the incomes of the European Union's agricultural community for half a century. Despite this, there is still no official system in place to track the economic wellbeing of farmers and their families. This book examines the evidence on the overall wealth of farming households, and concludes that in nearly all member states, they are not generally a poor sector of society, with disposable incomes that are similar to, or exceed, the national average.