New Common Agricultural Policy CAP (2023-2027)

The common agricultural policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the EU Member States. It incorporates a set of primary and secondary EU legislation relating to agriculture, livestock farming and the movement of agricultural products. At the same time, it regulates all the issues that arise, such as price stability, product quality, product selection, land use and employment in the agri-food sector. The above is implemented through a complex process, in which a multitude of institutions are involved and results in intense bureaucracy, with the logical result that the functioning of the CAP becomes difficult. Understanding the CAP is an important part of the study of the EU, which is one of the main policies implemented by the EU, which is financed by 50% of the EU budget and has significant effects on the lives of all EU citizens. Precisely due to its great importance, the CAP has at times been the subject of great controversy and has been subject to pressure from various sources, which have led to significant changes and reforms over time. In the context of this presentation, the main elements of the CAP will be analyzed. More specifically, the CAP in its original form will be presented and then the CAP reforms will be described, where reference will be made to both the main pressure forces for reform in the two main phases of CAP reform and the most recent developments concerning the CAP and Greece's position in these actions.