Common Agricultural Policy

It has been evident for some time that those who would want to see a switch away from a greater emphasis on environmental issues in relation...

EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has rebuffed claims by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) that the time h...

Why should anyone who wants to see a more modern agriculture in Britain be concerned about the fact that the measures announced by the Chanc...

Idling land resources through set aside never made a lot of economic sense and was largely a way of dealing with over production encouraged ...

Leaks from Brussels suggest that capping Single Farm Payments is on the agenda for the forthcoming Health Check. This was mooted at the ti...

The EU has largely failed to respond to a booming global dairy market. Milk deliveries actually fell by 1.5 per cent in 2006 despite an in...

Experts on agricultural policy are often asked why the 'farm lobby' has been so successful although, of course, at EU level its infl...

The British countryside will be transformed through the planting of tall energy crops, the BA Festival of Science in York heard yesterday. ...

Observers like Jack Thurston have picked up signs of a change in the French stance on the CAP for some time. But now President Nicholas Sa...

Governments need to scrap subsidies for biofuels as the current rush to support alternative energy sources will lead to surging food prices ...

The autumn issue of Food Ethics focuses on EU farm policy. I wrote an introductory article and there are a number of interesting articles ...

European agriculture should face the same 'user pays' principle as other EU consumers of water in the coming year in order to addres...

UN Food and Agricultural Organisation chief Jacques Diouf has urged the EU and US to lower protectionist barriers against ethanol imports to...

It is far from clear how agricultural issues will be dealt with under co-decision once the reform treaty is enacted. Under current rules, m...

International trade negotiations have been the most effective driver of CAP reform for over fiften years. I haven't commented on progre...

British dairy farmers are leaving the industry in large numbers, but world milk and milk product prices are heading upwards fast. How can o...

In the long run it is going to be difficult to justify a Single Farm Payment (SFP) model that is based on historical receipts. This model o...

The fruit and vegetable reform agreement is another step on the road to a more market oriented CAP. Yet in some ways it is more significant...

A number of producer interests would like to revive food security as a major driver of agricultural policy. Organisations like the Commerci...

Walking the fields near my home, I noticed a new blue starflower crop that I was not familiar with. Indeed, the crop has suddenly become on...