This book explores the changing role of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), one of the biggest stumbling blocks to European integration, enlargement, and multilateral trade agreements. Marjoleine Hennis offers a unique perspective by focusing on the interaction between European integration and domestic politics. She analyzes the different levels of policymaking in the EU and applies a comparative analysis of interest intermediation in three important member states: France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Utilizing a political economy lens, the author draws a comprehensive picture of the structural changes in European agricultural policymaking by tracing the impact of globalization and the related changes in European regulation on the key actors in the CAP. Illuminating the dynamics and apparent contradictions of the CAP, this study offers valuable perspective on the contours of future European integration.

"Hennis's book contributes greatly to a better understanding of the challenges for European agriculture brought on by globalization and the specific responses of the actors on the national and European level. The book is clearly structured, well researched and readable. It includes recent data as well as historical prespectives. It provides valuable insight into a crucial aspect of European agriculture." - H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online, May 2007

"[With this fine work Marjoleine Hennis offers a penetrating analysis of the impact of globalization on the political agriculture community] and of the manner by which the changes they are suddenly experiencing and managing by European agriculture." - Bibliotheque Europeenne