The international economic milieu is burdened by a deepening credit crisis, bouts of protectionism, and growing concerns about the impact of climate change and the formidable industrial rise of Asia (of China and India, in particular) on the prices of basic commodities.

The struggle for scarce resources would involve increasingly good land, as the mainstay for food production. As a matter of fact, good land for agriculture is turning into a strategic asset, which would be a replica to how other countries use non-renewable energy resources as strategic assets. Isn't it ominous that, already, we are facing a visible trade-off between the prices of food and energy produced out of grains?

In view of this geo and economic political background how does the Commission envisage the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) over the longer run? Can narrowly formulated cost-benefit considerations and the risk of excessive dependency on unsecured sources of food supply lie behind a reform of the CAP?