European Common Agricultural Policy

In Europe, eutrophication is one of the main water pollution problems, which originates partially from the past European common agricultural policy. The intensive cultivation of land demanded the use of large amounts of fertilizers in a relatively small total land area. Although the situation has improved in the last few years with the phosphorus levels in water being decreased, the presence of nitrates in the aquatic environment is still a problem. 

Lloyd-Williams F, O Flaherty M, Mwatsama M, et al. Estimating the cardiovascnlar mortality bmden attributable to the European Common Agricultural Policy on dietary saturated fats. Bull World Health Organ. 2008,86 535-41A. 

Dabbert, S. (2000) Organic farming and the Common Agricultural Policy A European Perspective. Proceedings of the 13th International IFOAM Scientific Conference, Basel, Switzerland, pp 611-14. 

The next stage was Britain s accession to the European Economic Community [EEC, commonly known then as the Common Market, and now known as the European Union (EU)], which meant that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) applied. The policy in the form then current sought to penalise the use of food crops from outside the EEC when the crop could be produced inside the EEC. 

In 1993, the European Union (EU) began reforming its Common Agricultural Policy, which resulted in a decline in their floor price for wheat. The EU also set the floor price of com at a level higher than that of wheat, and put a production quota on potato starch, thereby making wheat the most profitable raw material for manufacturing starch. As a result, EU manufacturers embarked on an expansion of wheat starch... 

The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy in 1992 has been the most important change in direction of European agricultural policy in recent... 

EC (2002b). Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament Mid-Term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy COM (2002) 394 final, Brussels, July 2002. 

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