CAP regimes and the European countryside: prospects for integration between agricultural, regional and environmental policies

Assessments made on the environmental effects of the CAP are reviewed and the contribution of agricultural policy to environmental quality in the EU is considered. The focus is on the role of agricultural policy in reducing harmful effects and/or creating benefits to the physical environment, landscape and nature, Emphasis is placed on comparative studies. The commodity regimes of the CAP are examined (beef regime, arable crops regime, olive oil regime). Following a preface (one paper) and an introduction to environmental reform of agricultural policy (two papers), the environmental performance of CAP regimes is examined (ten papers). Institutional factors in reorienting agriculture are considered (three papers) and prospects for the future are discussed (two papers). Some of the chapters are edited and revised versions of papers presented at a workshop on CAP and the environment in the EU, held in the Netherlands in February 1998.