The fortifications around the old CAP are being lowered and we are starting to witness the birth pangs of the new one. The leaked DG Agri Communication on the future of the CAP is not the most transparent paper and has been criticised from several different sides – not perhaps itself an unhealthy sign. However, beneath the sometimes conflicting signals there is a sense of clearer objectives than the present policy and some willingness to tackle the shibboleths that have constrained progress for so long.

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