EU and Agro-politics: Managing integration between anticipation and resistance

Since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 the EU has been confronted with a new challenge. How should 'the New Europe' (Pinder 1998) be created? How should the process of security and peace on the continent be continued without the US-Soviet political and military umbrella? The political leaders in Europe believe that the ongoing process of integration is the best solution to the new challenge. However, the management of this integration process is a complex target as such. In particular, the relations between the EU and Central and Eastern Europe should be developed in a way that is satisfying for both sides. The question is, how can further integration be promoted and (new) marginalization and political resistance be avoided? Innovations in EU policies, particularly the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), are necessary. Because the CAP still consumes circa 45 per cent of the EU budget, and because the existing and forthcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements make an adaptation unavoidable, the CAP reformation (in relation to the EU Structural Funds: Agenda 2000) is the key issue in EU politics.