STRUCTURAL POLICIES FOR AGRICULTURE IN THE E.E.C.

The outcome of the Common Agricultural Policy, with its “managed” market for farm products, has been high prices and surplus production, the disposal of which incurs a heavy expenditure on market support. At the same time, structural changes have been relatively insignifcant in the absence of a coherent E.E.C. programme, and, farms remain predominantly small and uneconomic. Financial and social pressures have compelled the Comission of the E.E.C. to admit that the Common Agricultural Policy needs to be radically re-appraised. In December 1968, far-reaching proposals, the so-called “Mansholt Plan”, were put forward by the Comission. This paper outlines and compares the structural policies of E.E.C. member States, and considers their impact upon the structure of farming. An assessment is also made of the measures included in the Mansholt Plan and in subsequent Community proposals designed to raise farmers' living standards and to reduce the cost of the Common Agricultural Policy.