Effective Implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy: The case of the milk quota regime and the Greek experience in applying it

The Common Agricultural Policy is one of the very few policy areas in which the European Community has an exclusive competence in decision-making. Once a European State applies for membership, its accession to the EU is conditional on the full "harmonisation" of its national legislation with that of CAP as it stands at the time of the accession. Then, the national agricultural policy is immediately replaced by the CAP regime and, hereinafter, the national decision-making competencies are assumed by EU Institutions, in accordance to the procedures of the Treaty.
Effective implementation of the CAP rules, however, remains an obligation of the national authorities. Given that the CAP legislation represents more than half of the total EU law, it is obvious that the harmonisation and effective implementation of the rules applied in the agricultural sector remain one of the most difficult tasks in terms of integration within the EU.
Yet, the CAP, by its very nature, induces a considerable degree of convergence of the political-administrative systems of the Member States. In this respect, the "common organisation of market for milk and milk products" that has been established since the introduction of the CAP attracts special attention.
On the one hand, within the EU, the applied regime of "milk quotas" has become and still is of central importance to all the 15 Member States, generating long and persistent debates concerning its complexities and its future orientation. On the other hand, and in view of the eastward enlargement, milk production represents also one of the most significant sectors in the agricultural domain of all the candidate countries. The milk regime, therefore, being one of the greatest challenges for both sides in the current and future market conditions, is expected to dominate the technical issues of the final stage of accession negotiations.
This book aims to provide a detailed analysis of the development and the present status of the regime by identifying those aspects that are relevant to the capacity building process of the sector. For this purpose, the experience of Greece in building up the necessary administrative capacities to meet the requirements and fulfil the obligations of managing the system is thoroughly presented. This analysis of the experience of an existing Member State demonstrates to the candidate countries the broad challenges and the specific tasks they have to undertake to achieve effective implementation of the CAP rules and successfully conclude negotiations for their integration into the Union.