ABSTRACT
The Mansholt Plan might have been a painful means of reforming the Common Agricultural Policy but equally it might have overcome the problem of product surpluses that brings the Community into disrepute today. Within the Federal Government three ministries were specifically concerned with the Mansholt Memorandum namely the Foreign Office, the Ministry for Agriculture and the Finance Ministry. The Agriculture Ministry's involvement is self-evident as it was concerned with the substance of the European Community (EC) measures. The German Farmers' Union (DBV) was discussed with reference to Community matters, in particular its relations with the political parties. Indeed, Commissioner Mansholt went to the extent of personally presenting his proposals before the General Assembly of Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations (COPA). The important aspect of Laender involvement in the formulation of the Federal Government's response to the various EC proposals on agricultural structures was that it was based on the expertise gained from running such policy in different regional circumstances.
