Orientations and evolution of the common agricultural policy (CAP): between sustainability and rural development

Abstract

One of the variables that since the 80s of the last century have modified the rural world, in its broad meaning, is without a doubt, the issue of sustainability and in the range of international experiences highlights that of the European Union that; through the common agrarian policy (CAP), it has introduced as a central component the agri-environmental action that have redefined both the orientations and the functions of agriculture, of the peasants and their territories, with the consequent effects on both the conceptualization and in rural development practice. A historical analysis of the process and evolution that this European policy has followed is presented, particularly its expression in Spain. The underlying hypothesis is that the environmental care and orientation of the rural development of the CAP have been defined based on the balance of the markets for agricultural products. This historical review takes as its starting point the 1990s when the agri-environmental variable appears for the first time in the CAP and its process continues until the 2016 reform, currently in force. The study is based on primary bibliographic sources: official documents prepared by the European Union and interviews with key informants related to the adequacy and application of CAP programs, particularly in Spain. The results confirm a trend in which the control of prices and the market of agricultural products, particularly cereals, has determined that the CAP is reoriented towards the consolidation of agro-environmental variables and that rural development, for the sake of multifunctionality and productive diversification, be channeled towards non-agricultural activities.