Conflicting Implementation of Agricultural and Water Policies in Irrigated Areas in the EU

1. Objectives and Background Irrigated agriculture is very important in terms of area, value of production and employment in Mediterranean regions devoted to continental agriculture. T his paper analyses the impact of CAP reform and the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in irrigated agriculture through a case study in Central Spain. We believe that this research will contribute to our understanding of the complexities linking agricultural and environmental policies in irrigated agriculture. We begin by introducing CAP policy and the Water Framework Directive. Agenda 2000 and the future of the CAP T he history of the CAP has always been one of adaptation to internal and external forces on the agricultural sector. T here has been a continuous series of modifications to policy goals and instruments in reaction to the changing agricultural environment. T he latest significant changes were adopted in 1999 as part of the Agenda 2000 framework, which aims to solve internal (justification of social support) and external (the next WT O round and EU enlargement) problems (Buckwell, 1997). T hey continue the momentum of the 1992 Reforms in that farmers are compensated by direct payments for successive reductions in institutional prices in an attempt to decouple production from