Briefing: The Common Agricultural Policy

Produced in the run up to crucial review of the Common Agricultural Policy, and during international trade negotiations, this briefing paper documents how the CAP works, who benefits from it and briefly what the impact is of this policy.

Report contents

• EU Agriculture and World Trade
• Agricultural production in Europe
• EU imports and exports
• Supply balance and markets for key commodities
• The Common Agricultural Policy
• CAP in brief
• Distributional impact of the CAP
• CAP budget
• CAP export refunds administration system
• CAP intervention expenditure
• Who does the CAP benefit?
• Focus on UK agriculture
• Products which benefit most from the CAP's WTO compliant tariffs and quota restrictions
• Impact of the CAP
• World prices
• Developing country markets
• The environment
• Consumers
• References