Adjusting the CAP for new EU Members: Lessons from Previous Enlargements

Integrating the agricultural sector has been one of the most difficult dossiers in previous EU enlargements, and this will also be the case in future enlargements.

This is partly because agriculture is a highly regulated sector within the EU that requires deep-rooted reforms in the candidate countries, partly because the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) represents one of the biggest expenditure items in the EU budget.

In this European Policy Analysis, Alan Matthews (professor emeritus of European agricultural policy, University of Dublin Trinity College) draws lessons from previous enlargements. This includes the special arrangements made to facilitate a smoother integration of candidate countries into the common agricultural policy.

Considering that the next enlargement will take place under a budget constraint, the author specifically looks at how the EU addressed the budgetary costs of previous enlargements that involved large, low-income agricultural economies.

Assuming that the CAP budget will not be increased, the author discusses several options, including the obvious solution of phasing in payments to new members.

However, in the long run, the author argues, changing the criteria used to distribute funds between member states is the central issue. This might reduce projected transfers to new members but, importantly, also result in gainers and losers within current member states.

The precise arrangements for extending EU agricultural policy support to the candidate countries will be determined in the accession negotiations. An agreement with Ukraine will likely be crucial: the country accounts for 75% of the candidate states’ combined agricultural area, and 55% of their combined agricultural employment.