ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is about the adoption, implementation and achievements of the European Union (EU) agri-environmental Regulation 2078/92, introduced as part of the 1992 reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Regulation 2078 is one of three 'Accompanying Measures' to the 1992 reform of the CAP. As such, it forms an integral part of a wide-ranging reform whose principal driving concern at the time was to reduce the overproduction of certain farm products within the EU and thereby reduce the overall costs of the CAP. The book focuses on the emergence of national Agri-environmental policy agendas and compares and contrasts the different approaches that have been used in the ten countries under investigation. It concludes with a discussion of the relative 'success' of national agri-environmental programmes with regard to farmer participation figures and contract areas entered into schemes.
