This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the Common Agricultural Policy which imposes high costs on taxpayers and consumers yet has proved very difficult to reform. Particular emphasis is placed on new developments affecting the shape of the CAP, including the outcome of the GATT Uruguay Round negotiations, Eastern enlargement, and developments in environmental policy. A distinctive feature of the book is the attention given to situating European agriculture within its global context and in relation to the food processing and agricultural supply industries.

'Grant has written one of the best books ever on the CAP, and really on EU policy making more generally.' - John Peterson, Political Studies

'[D]emonstrates the author's rich knowledge of commodity details and historical evidence, without losing the thread of political economic analysis...[U]p-to-date...and...readable...it can be fully recommended.' - Andreas Bodenstedt, Sociologia Ruralis

Preface - Introduction - The Context of European Agriculture - The Structure of European Agriculture and Food Processing - The Development of the Common Agricultural Policy - System Failures: the Agrimonetary System and the Fraud Problem - Butter Mountains, Wine Lakes and Beef War: the Commodity Regimes - Decision Making and the CAP - The Reform Imperative: Eastern Enlargement, Trade and the Environment - The Possibility of Radical Reform? - References