ABSTRACT
For a variety of reasons, the European Union (EU) has in recent years become an important focus for economic analysis. The most important development has been the movement towards closer economic integration between the member states of the EU, known as the 1992 programme (see Chapters 7 and 8), and subsequently the debate over even closer links in the future under the Maastricht Treaty (see Chapters 4-6). There has, however, been one policy operated by the EU for a number of years that has continually put the EU in the public eye-that is, the operation and effects of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This is the means by which the EU provides financial support for its farmers. It has been popularly associated with massive budgetary expenditures and the infamous mountains and lakes of surplus products as diverse as cereals, skimmed milk powder, beef and alcohol.
