The Political Economy Of The 2014-2020 Common Agricultural Policy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures, Tables and Boxes

List of Abbreviations

About the Contributors

Preface & Acknowledgements

1. The Political Economy of the 2014-2020 Common Agricultural Policy: Introduction and key conclusions

1. A CAP ‘reform’?

2. Public funds for public goods? Greening of the CAP?

3. The multi-annual financial framework (MFF) and CAP reform

4. Does more democracy lead to a better CAP? Co-decision and the European Parliament

5. Eastern enlargement: Decision-making with 27 member states

6. Flexibility

7. Agricultural and food price changes and the CAP

8. A return to market interventions?

9. A perfect storm in the economy but an imperfect storm in the politics of the CAP

10. The next CAP reform

References

Part I. The CAP for 2014-2020

2. The 2013 Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy

1. Introduction

2. The 2014-20 MFF

3. The new system of direct payments

4. The second pillar

5. Decisions regarding other elements of the CAP

6. The national decisions on the new CAP

7. Conclusions

References

3. Was the CAP reform a success?

1. Introduction

2. After the ‘Health Check’: A promising start

3. Direct payments

4. Greening ‘à la carte’

5. Rural development

6. Price policy, risk management and market organisation

7. Flexibility, subsidiarity, pillars and lessons from fiscal federalism

8. Conclusion: The 2013 CAP reform, bloom and gloom

References

Part II. Perspectives from Inside the European Institutions

4. Achievements and Constraints of the 2013 CAP Reform

1. Introduction

2. The economics of CAP reform

3. The politics of CAP reform

4. The policies of CAP reform

5. Some conclusions

5. Perspective from the European Parliament

1. The context

2. The legislative proposals

3. The role of the Parliament: “Done is better than perfect”

6. The Perspective of the (former) European Commissioner for Environment

1. The facts

2. Where to begin? With what we already have: the CAP

3. The big picture

4. Europe’s economic hardship and what it means for the CAP

5. No way around it: We’re in this together

Part III. Political Economy Perspectives

7. The Multi-Annual Financial Framework and the 2013 CAP Reform

1. Introduction

2. The size of the CAP budget

3. Sequencing of the budget and CAP negotiations

4. CAP-related issues in the MFF

5. Conclusions

References

8. The WTO: No longer relevant for CAP reform?

1. Past CAP reforms and the WTO

2. The Agreement on Agriculture: Still relevant in the mid-2010s?

3. The post-2013 CAP and the WTO

4. Concluding comments

References

9. From ‘Greening’ to ‘Greenwash’: The drivers and discourses of CAP 2020 ‘reform’

1. Introduction: Watered down reform

2. Framework for the analysis

3. Results of the research

4. Discussion and conclusion: Is CAP moving backwards?

References

10. The Fate of Green Direct Payments in the CAP Reform Negotiations

1. Introduction and context

2. Setting the scene

3. Publication of the Commission’s proposals and the development of negotiating mandates

4. The trilogues and political agreement

5. Discussion and conclusions

References

11. The Political Economy of Capping Direct Payments: Applications in – and implications for – Germany

1. Introduction

2. Some facts on capping direct payments

3. Positions on capping and degressivity

4. Final negotiations on degressivity and capping

5. Some lessons and conclusions

References

12. CAP Reform, 2005-14, and the Muted Role of the Dis-United Kingdom

1. Preparing the 2007-13 multiannual financial framework (MFF)

2. The UK’s “Vision"

3. The budget review

4. Changed circumstances: the commodity price spikes of the late 2000s

5. Eurosceptics, and the government’s isolation in Brussels

6. Defra and the devolved administrations

7. Concluding comments

References

Part IV. Co-Decision and the European Parliament

13. COMAGRI and the ‘CAP after 2013’ Reform: In search of a collective sense of purpose

1. Introduction

2. Internal Parliament process in the CAP reform

3. COMAGRI-ENVI division of labour

4. Who is COMAGRI?

5. From 719 to 7,036 Parliament amendments

6. A COMAGRI compromise

7. The Parliament mandate

8. Conclusion

References

14. The European Parliament’ s Position on Market Regulation and the Impact of the Economic Context

1. Introduction

2. Roll-call votes and Parliament behaviour

3. Background on the COMAGRI and Parliament position on the Single CMO Regulation

4. An analysis of the Parliament position using roll-call vote data

5. Party discipline and coalition formation on Single CMO

6. Summary and conclusions

References

15. Parliamentary Amendments to the Legislative Proposals of the 2013 CAP Reform

1. Literature review on the Parliament’s role

2. Dataset

3. Methodology

4. Analysis

5. Conclusions

References

16. Co-decision and the CAP: An unfinished story – Insights on the role of the European Parliament in the 2013 reform

1. Introduction

2. Literature review

3. The first CAP reform under co-decision: inter-institutional dynamics and legislative influence

4. The limits of co-decision: complexity and political reality

5. Conclusions

References

Part V. Conclusions and the Future

17. An Imperfect Storm in the Political Economy of the Common Agricultural Policy

1. Introduction

2. A perfect storm in the Fischler CAP reform (2000-03)

3. Pressures, institutions and agents in the 2009-13 political negotiations

4. Eastern enlargement and ‘external convergence’

5. Public funding for what? How global food price shocks transformed the CAP debate

6. Summary and conclusion: An imperfect storm in the political economy of the CAP

References

18. CAP Reform, the US Farm Bill and the TTIP

1. The CAP at the centre of transatlantic tensions

2. Farm policy reforms reduce trade tensions

3. WTO rules provide framework for improved relations

4. Nature of the TTIP avoids underlying issues

References

19. Reflections on the CAP post-2014

1. Introduction

2. The commissioner’s mandate

3. Legislative trigger points

4. Link with the next MFF

5. Another grand CAP reform?

6. The political economy of further CAP reform

7. What are the prospects for the next CAP reform?

References

20. Where should the CAP go post-2020?

1. Why it isn’t too early to start thinking about the next reform

2. Will there continue to be justification for a grand policy for agriculture and rural development?

3. Will we still require a common EU agricultural policy?

4. What are the options for reform?

5. What are the weaknesses of the current CAP?

6. Lessons learned from past reforms

7. The context in which the reform debate takes place and in which the next policy will operate

8. In summary, what could be the broad elements of the next reform debate?

References

21. Is there a need for a mid-term review of the 2013 CAP reform?

1. Mid-term review of past common agricultural policy

2. Review commitments of the 2013 CAP reform

3. Implementation of review commitments

4. Is there a need for a comprehensive mid-term review of the CAP?

5. The call for simplification and subsidiarity in the CAP

6. Possible scenarios

7. Conclusion

Appendix: A Summary of the Institutional Positions in the CAP Negotiations

Index