ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book looks at the way in which information on the income and wealth of farmers is taken into account when shaping agricultural policy within the European Union. Among the users of information, changes in income from agricultural production, at all levels of aggregation, are frequently interpreted as indicating parallel movements in the welfare of farmers. Agricultural policy has also changed in the EU; it is less concerned with issues of adequacy of the quantity supplied by the domestic agricultural industry and improvements in its productivity. Income information at EU level used in shaping the CAP is almost exclusively confined to the rewards derived from agricultural production. The book focuses on the income situation of farmer households has some important policy implications. Progress at microeconomic level is needed to throw light on to many of the pressing policy questions concerning incomes.
