Distributional aspects of the UK costs of the common agricultural policy

United Kingdom (UK) accession into the European Economic Community (EEC), which became a political likelihood in 1970 and an actuality in 1973, led to a major change in agricultural policy away from a deficiency payments system supporting farmers' incomes towards the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) method of assistance through farm prices above the market level. Such a basic alteration in government activity not only imposed well-known and thoroughly researched costs on the British economy in the form of higher food prices and an additional burden of protection, it also undermined dominant post-1945 historical trends.Firstly, it reversed a thirty year old process towards greater British self-sufficiency Between 1938 and 1946 UK agricultural production rose in value from 42% to 52% of the country's food imports, while under the deficiency payments scheme, permanently established in peacetime by the 1947 Agriculture Act, the proportion of UK food consumption supplied by domestic producers grew steadily until it reached a level of just under 72% in 1972. EEC membership, involving compulsory adoption of the CAP, initially reversed this movement; British agricultural self-sufficiency fell to 66% in 1977, the year when the Common External Tariff (CET) was first applied in full. The higher import bill that inevitably resulted imposed a severe strain on the UK balance of payments, estimated by the pro-market. Heath government in 1970 at a net annual deterioration in the range of 18% to 26%.

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What Common Agricultural Policy after Brexit?

Politics and Governance ◽

10.17645/pag.v7i3.2117 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 40-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christilla Roederer-Rynning ◽

Alan Matthews

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Policy ◽

Common Agricultural Policy ◽

Farm Income ◽

Urban Rural ◽

The Common ◽

Multi Level ◽

The Uk ◽

Political Economic ◽

The Impact ◽

The Eu

Suppose we were in 2028: what would the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) look like then? Would it be significantly different from the policy we know today? How, and why? And to what extent would Brexit have catalyzed these changes? The CAP is one of the founding policies of the EU and a strategic lever to address critical 21st century challenges such as climate change and the rising demand for food at the global level. It also has an important role in Europe to address the growing urban-rural divide and its potentially destabilizing impact on European politics. In this article, we examine the impact of Brexit from a political-economic perspective emphasizing the multi-level context within which the CAP is embedded. As an EU member state, the UK found a way to partly accommodate the CAP to its needs even though this policy was a source of intense UK dissatisfaction with the EU. Post-Brexit, the budgetary and market implications of the UK’s departure may favour positions that support a return to a more traditional policy of farm income support. On the other hand, more radical farm policies in England and Wales could partly offset these effects by setting the agenda for continued CAP reform, if they are seen to be successful.

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1992 - The implications for the uk pig industry

Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Production (1972) ◽

10.1017/s0308229600010370 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 1989 ◽

pp. 44-44

Author(s):

R W Dean

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Policy ◽

Common Agricultural Policy ◽

Single Market ◽

Circumstantial Evidence ◽

The Common ◽

The Uk ◽

New Situation ◽

Commercial Environment ◽

The Way

The objective of the paper is to assess the overall structural and competitive implications for the UK pig industry of the EC Single Market; colloquially known as “1992”.Particular attention is paid both to the effect of those changes in the commercial environment which 1992 will introduce and, secondly, to those aspects which differentiate the UK pig industry from its continental competitors. Analysis of these aspects will assist in drawing conclusions as to the likely effect of the Single Market and in determining an appropriate strategy for addressing the new situation.A body of admittedly largely circumstantial evidence suggests that the UK pig producer believes the advent of the Single Market will have little relevance to the way in which he conducts his business. This view is buttressed by his perception of the agricultural world as governed by the workings of the Common Agricultural Policy which is regarded as the principle influence upon agriculture and its commercial fortunes.

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De Gaulle's Race to the Bottom: The Netherlands, France and the Interwoven Problems of British EEC Membership and European Political Union, 1958–1963

Contemporary European History ◽

10.1017/s0960777310000044 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 111-132 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

MATHIEU SEGERS

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Agricultural Policy ◽

Common Agricultural Policy ◽

European Economic Community ◽

Economic Community ◽

Political Union ◽

Archival Material ◽

The Common ◽

The Uk ◽

De Gaulle

AbstractWhy did de Gaulle veto the United Kingdom's accession to the European Economic Community in 1963? This article addresses the interlinked struggles over British accession and European political union in the early 1960s. The focus is on the crucially conflicting relations between de Gaulle and the Netherlands, his main opponent on both issues. Who won the Franco-Dutch battle and why? This article assesses these questions on the basis of new multi-archival material and highlights a hitherto largely unnoticed rhetorical battle, which explains the course of events and reveals a previously largely unnoticed logic behind de Gaulle's manoeuvring in the intertwined negotiations over European political union, the Common Agricultural Policy and the UK membership bid.

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