ABSTRACT
As the introductory chapter explains, this book appears at a time of intensified debate on the future of the CAP. This debate is unlike those in the three previous ‘programming periods’ of approximately seven years each. Within these periods, the European Council, Commission and Parliament operate an ‘inter-institutional agreement’, a ‘multi-annual financial framework’ of expenditure commitments, and a fixed budget revenue formula. Each such period – and therefore reform debate – has its own features, but the following seven points seem to characterize the current situation, particularly as concerns future EU agricultural policy (broadly defined):
• World food prices have recently fallen back somewhat, but concerns over short-and long-term global food security remain high.
