Agriculture has been singled out not only for its strategic importance comparablewith industry but also for political reasons bearing in mind that in post-war yearsthere was a question whether western Europe would be able to feed itself and thatthe economies of France and Germany - the main partners in the Community - werecomplementary, France being predominantly an agricultural country and Germanyan industrial country. Agriculture, therefore, became a self-contained policy governedby its own rules and financed from the Community budget.According to art. 39 the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are:(1) to increase agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress and by ensuring the rational development of agricultural production and the optimum utilizationof all factors of production, in particular labour;(2) thus to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, in particularby increasing the individual earnings of persons engaged in agriculture;(3) to stabilize markets;(4) to provide certainty of supplies; and(5) to ensure supplies to consumers at reasonable prices.

Agriculture has been singled out not only for its strategic importance comparablewith industry but also for political reasons bearing in mind that in post-war yearsthere was a question whether western Europe would be able to feed itself and thatthe economies of France and Germany - the main partners in the Community - werecomplementary, France being predominantly an agricultural country and Germanyan industrial country. Agriculture, therefore, became a self-contained policy governedby its own rules and financed from the Community budget.According to art. 39 the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are:(1) to increase agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress and by ensuring the rational development of agricultural production and the optimum utilizationof all factors of production, in particular labour;(2) thus to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, in particularby increasing the individual earnings of persons engaged in agriculture;(3) to stabilize markets;(4) to provide certainty of supplies; and(5) to ensure supplies to consumers at reasonable prices.