ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the nature of policy debates and compromises that have led to the emergence of European Commission (EC) initiatives. It also explores the central place of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in EC policy-making, along with its importance for rural areas per se. The chapter focuses on two primary policy fields; agriculture and regional policy. EC agricultural policies pointedly signify the disjuncture of US and European priorities; and Britain is less strongly bonded to agricultural policies on account of a long-term downgrading of agriculture in favour of manufacturing and services. Compared with its agricultural counterpart, debate and controversy over regional policy has been muted at the international level. In 1975, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) was created, along with the less favoured areas (LFA) programme that saw additional agricultural guidance payments going to farmers in difficult agricultural areas. At the transnational level, rural policy has primarily been of the moment rather than bubbling-up from well-grounded historical traditions.
