Agricultural Policy

Abstract

Until the Treaty of Rome, French agricultural policy was highly nationalist and protectionist, with import quotas, prohibitive tariffs and price maintenance. Some types of production were subject to detailed regulations, and major product markets were regulated by national ‘offices’ which attempted to stabilise production levels and prices. In 1957, after intense lobbying by the dominant farm union, the FNSEA (Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d’Exploitants Agricoles) price indexation for key agricultural products was introduced. Then, in 1958, a massive process of change began. Henceforth, all aspects of agriculture concerning foreign trade, product definitions and quality controls, pricing and market regulation were to be decided jointly in the EEC. In these areas the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was to replace the diverse national policies, although national or local agencies were actually to implement the CAP. Furthermore, the CAP did not cover all aspects of farming. Initially, member state governments were left with responsibility for policies affecting the ‘supply structures’ of agriculture (education and research, transport and communications, farms sizes and investment supports), and for social security arrangements for farmers. Hence, since 1958, agricultural policy in France has become dominated by the European framework of detailed production regulations, price supports, intervention purchasing and market controls, but within that framework French governments have implemented structural and other reforms designed to ensure that French farmers — and voters — maximized the yield to France from the CAP.