L'évolution récente des agricultures du Royaume-Uni et de la CEE facilite-t-elle l'élargissement du Marché commun ?

Over the past few years, agriculture in Britain and in the European Economic Community have developed along lines tending to bring the two systems closer together. Trends in production, selfsufficiency, the amount of land taken up by agriculture, and agricultural prices bear witness to this convergence, although considerable differences still exist in some respects. The only problematic aspect is the trend in farm structurés. In the matter of individual farm size, farmers in Britain are progressively increasing their lead over farmers in the EEC, despite the greater number of uneconomic farms that are being given up on the Costinent. This underlines the need to speed up Community efforts in the field of structural reform. The first part of this article definitely shows that the agricultural systems in Britain and in the EEC, are of the same type, but are at different stages of development. In the second part, the author looks at recent developments in the agricultural policies of Britain and thé Community, where he sees an increasing similarity of views. The decisions taken recently in London and Brussels mark decisive turning points in both policies by providing for their alignment and eventual fusion. In his conclusions the author calls for immediate efforts to improve statistical information. This article, which was written in April 1971, just after the entry negotiations had begun, shows that agriculture is no longer a stumbling-block ans that there was room for optimism as far as the outcome of the negotiations was concerned. It is pointed out, however, that once Britain joins the Community, potential marketing outlets in Britain will not be as good as they appear to be now, since strong incentives will doubtless be given to British farmers to increase their production as the common agricultural policy gradually takes effect in Britain.