ABSTRACT
In March 1999, European Union (EU) Agriculture Ministers reached agreement on further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as part of the Agenda 2000 discussions. As both D. Baldock and E. Bignal have rightly argued, cross-compliance potentially will yield the greatest environmental benefits, as it may force farmers to adopt environmentally friendly farming practices if they wish to be eligible for CAP support. Interestingly, most member states appear to be willing to accept the principle of cross-compliance, although there was much resistance in the early stages of the drafting of Agenda 2000. Agenda 2000 is a further step in the 'decoupling' of price support from production, accompanied by a step towards the use of environmental 'cross-compliance' which gives EU member states more power than the 1992 reforms to make most direct payments contingent on farmers meeting certain environmental requirements.
