Abstract

Agriculture is one of the first fully integrated policy domains in the European Union (EU). The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a significant field of study, both in practical and scientific terms. It is of practical and empirical importance if only due to the sheer size of its budget, which is still over 40 per cent of the overall EU budget. Scientifically, the study of the CAP – from its foundations and its reforms through time to the interactions with non-agricultural issues – has made significant contributions to the debate on the dynamics of EU policy change.