ABSTRACT
Until the late 1980s there was little doubt among CAP analysts that budgetary concern was the major driving force capable of generating CAP reform. The MacSharry reform of 1992 triggered a debate on the driving forces of CAP reform in a new era in which farm trade had become more fully integrated in the WTO trade regime with its distinct Agreement on Agriculture. During the debate two camps crystallised – one emphasising the WTO, and the other the budget, as the root cause of the MacSharry reform. The debate re-emerged after the Agenda 2000 CAP reform but with less strength, presumably because Agenda 2000, in general, is seen as a limited reform, or perhaps rather as a simple policy adjustment. The 2003 Fischler reform raised the same questions once again (see Swinbank and Daugbjerg 2006 for an overview of these debates).
