在经济日趋全球化之后，一个有大型贸易集团共同市场的出现，世界各国的竞争已经被迫变为经济一体。在数百年的消费理论选，这几乎肯定会导致一个必然更低的价格和更有效的生产所有产品的结论。然而，正如许多国家的情况一样，欧洲联盟（欧盟）已经成功地通过使用一个共同的农业政策创造一个人工市场的农产品。分析的重点勾勒出欧盟共同农业政策的框架，严格分析它所产生的福利的负面影响，并通过检查一个国家的（英国）的斗争与共同的农业政策表现出这样的影响。在政府干预的问题上，政府干预的争议也一直是一个重大问题。应欧盟的政府干预农业市场来帮助它自己的经济，和亚当·斯密会怎么想呢？
In the wake of an increasingly globalized economy, one that has seen the emergence of large trade blocs and common markets, the nations of the world have been competitively forced into becoming more economically integrated year after year. In light of hundreds of years of consumer theory, this would almost certainly lead one to a conclusion of necessarily lower prices and more efficient production on almost all products. However, as is the case in many nations, the European Union (EU) has succeeded in creating an artificial market for agricultural products through the use of a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). It is the focus of this analysis to outline the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, analyze strictly the negative effects it creates on welfare, and exhibit such effects through the examination of one nation's (United Kingdom) struggle with the Common Agricultural Policy. In light of the CAP, the controversy of government intervention has also have been a major issue. Should the governments of the EU interfere with the agricultural market to help it's own economy, and what would Adam Smith think of this? With disregard for the invisible hand, the EU is directing the economy and the people.
The Common Agricultural Policy is a policy, set forth by the European Union (EU), which is comprised of a set of rules that regulate the production, trade, and processing of agricultural products. The CAP currently accounts for almost fifty percent of the EU budget, however, this number continues to decrease over the years. The CAP is significant in that it symbolizes Europe's switch from sovereignty on a national level to a European level.
The Treaty of Rome, in July 1958, formed the foundation for a unified Europe via the implementation of the general objectives for the CAP. "The CAP was established as a means of rectifying the deficit in food production within Europe through supporting internal prices and incomes" (Blair 123-124). The CAP succeeded in realizing it's initial goals of increased production and productivity, stabilized markets, secured supplies, and farmer protection. However, the system included problems, which became apparent as the Community established a surplus for most of its agricultural products. First, the CAP increased output beyond the market's need via the guaranteeing of prices through intervention and production aids. Second, the very success of the Cap caused tension within the Community's trading partners as subsidized exports affected the market, and thirdly, the desire to produce more food brought with it environmental damage to certain regions (Blair 123-4).
The legal basis for the CAP is defined in Articles 32-38 in Title II of the EC Treaty, in which, Articles 33-34 form the basic foundation for the CAP. Article 33 lists the objectives of the CAP as a means, "to increase agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress and by ensuring the rational development of agricultural production and the optimum utilization of the factors of production, to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, in particular by increasing the individual earnings of persons engaged in agriculture, to stabilize markets, to assure the availability of supplies, and to ensure that supplies reach consumers at reasonable prices" (europa.eu.int).
Through Article 34 came the creation of the Common Organization of the Agricultural Markets (COM). These COM's were to take on one of three different forms, depending on the product. They successfully eliminate obstacles to intra-Union trade while also keeping a common customs barrier with respect to countries outside the Union. Results of the COM's include a u
