The Impact of Agriculture on the Success of Enlargement

This paper analyses the cost the 2004 enlargement of the European Union (EU) towards Central and Eastern Europe from the perspective of the most expensive EU policy: the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Its intention is to predict how the reform of this fundamental common policy has been and will continue to be affected by the presence of the new Member States. At the time of the 2004 enlargement, the impulse for reform aimed at fostering an entirely new perspective on agriculture in Europe and in the global context. The challenge for the EU resided in building tools for integration to enable the successful convergence of nations with major economic differences. The first part of the paper provides a brief analysis of the relevant aspects of the 2004 enlargement process. The CAP and the reforms of agricultural policy introduced in preparation for enlargement are assessed in the second part, while the third part highlights a number of political problems that may arise between the Member States and within the domestic policies of the new members.