Editing Common Agricultural Policy (section)

=== Origins ===
In the late 1950s to late 1960s, there was no example of a successful agricultural integration in Europe. There were only a few pre-existing legal stipulations that were considered, "weak, vague and highly underdeveloped". As part of building a common market, tariffs on agricultural products would have to be removed. However, the political clout of farmers, and the sensitivity of the issue in nations that still remembered severe food shortages during and after the Second World War, delayed the CAP and its implementation for many years. Nevertheless, the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC) offered an integrated agriculture policy to France, to help France to ratify the [[Treaty of Rome]]. In due course, article 39 was created in a set of five social and economic objectives.<ref>Ludlow, N. Piers. "The Making of the CAP: Towards a Historical Analysis of the EU's First Major Policy." Contemporary European History 14.03 (2005): 349–50.</ref>

The [[Spaak Report]] of 1956 stated that a European common market that excluded agriculture was unthinkable.<ref>Rosemary Fennell, ''The Common Agricultural Policy: Continuity and Change'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 12.</ref> It argued that security of food supply was paramount and raised a series of questions about agriculture that needed to be answered by policy-makers.<ref>Fennell, pp. 12–13.</ref> The [[Treaty of Rome]], signed in March 1957, established the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC) and it was mainly due to the French pressure that the Treaty included agriculture.<ref name="Fennell, p. 14">Fennell, p. 14.</ref> However, due to disagreements within the [[Inner Six|Six]] over agricultural policy, the articles on agriculture were vague and policy making was left until after the Treaty had been signed.<ref>Fennell, pp. 14–15.</ref>

Article 39.1 of the Treaty set out the objectives of the CAP: to increase productivity through technical progress and the best use of the factors of production (such as labour); to ensure a fair standard of living for communities employed in agriculture; to stabilize markets; to secure the availability of supplies; and to enforce fair prices.<ref name="Fennell, p. 14"/> Article 39.2 stated that policy makers must take into account three factors: the circumstances of each agricultural activity due to the social structure of agricultural communities and the inequalities between richer and poorer regions; the need to act gradually to allow agriculture sufficient time to adjust; and to remember that agriculture was heavily integrated in the wider economy.<ref name="Fennell, p. 14"/>

Article 40 provided for the common organisation of markets and common prices, along with a fund to pay for it.<ref name="Fennell, p. 16">Fennell, p. 16.</ref> Article 41 allowed for the introduction of additional measures to implement Article 39, such as the co-ordination of vocational education and research, the "dissemination of agricultural knowledge" and the encouragement of consumption of certain goods.<ref name="Fennell, p. 16"/> Article 42 allowed the [[Council of the European Union|Council of the Community]] to decide how far the regulations on competition could apply to agriculture.<ref name="Fennell, p. 16"/> This Article also allowed them to grant aid.<ref name="Fennell, p. 16"/>

During 3–12 July 1958 in [[Stresa]], the Community held an agricultural conference attended by agricultural ministers from member states and the [[President of the European Commission]], [[Walter Hallstein]], along with observers representing agriculture.<ref name="Fennell, p. 17">Fennell, p. 17.</ref> Three working parties at the conference investigated: the current state of agriculture and the agricultural policies of member states; the short-term effects of the implementation of the Rome Treaty; and the long-term aims of the CAP.<ref name="Fennell, p. 17"/> In a speech to the conference, Hallstein complained of urbanisation that was leading to rural depopulation and he lamented the "clash of cultures" in which rural life and rural values were considered inferior.<ref name="Fennell, p. 18">Fennell, p. 18.</ref> Hallstein also reflected on the [[Cold War]] threat from [[communism]]:
[[Image:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F004665-0003, Walter Hallstein.jpg|thumb|Walter Hallstein, President of the European Commission during the CAP's formative years]]
<blockquote>It is the core of Europe's achievements which is under threat: a whole civilization which rests on the inalienable freedom and dignity of the individual...this tragedy of liberty is also a tragedy of the rural class. Let us look around us, and, alas, we have not far to look; the rural class is its first victim. It is for this reason that we are convinced that the European rural class will count among the most trustworthy pillars of our unified European market. Because its fate is also at stake, and is one of the first threatened. In this room there is no one whose family tree doesn't reach back, sooner or later, to farming roots. We know what the rural class means to Europe, not only through its economic values, but also by its moral and social values.<ref name="Fennell, p. 18"/></blockquote>

The conference's Final Resolution argued for the vital importance of agriculture in economic and social life and expressed their unanimous wish to preserve the character of European farming, which was predominately based on small-size, family holdings.<ref>Fennell, pp. 20–21.</ref> They agreed that it was necessary to help these farms increase their economic capacity and competitiveness.<ref name="Fennell, p. 21">Fennell, p. 21.</ref> They also advocated structural changes to rationalize and cheapen production, which was intended to improve productivity.<ref name="Fennell, p. 21"/> The Resolution also included a commitment to a price policy.<ref name="Fennell, p. 21"/>

Therefore, during 1958–1959, the Commission drafted the CAP and the [[European Parliament|Assembly]] commissioned reports into agriculture.<ref>Fennell, pp. 21–22.</ref> The Commission submitted draft proposals in November 1959 (which were debated in the Assembly and by the [[European Economic and Social Committee|Economic and Social Committee]]) and its final report in June 1960.<ref>Fennell, p. 22.</ref> In December the Council agreed to a system of import levies (for grain, sugar, pork, eggs and poultry) and to commodity regimes for agricultural produce.<ref>Fennell, pp. 29–30.</ref> They also introduced the principle of Community Preference in the implementation of the levies and for the negotiation of commercial treaties with outside countries; this ensured that any trade concession granted to an outside country could not weaken the European producer in the Community market.<ref>Fennell, p. 31.</ref>