Agriculture: enlargement
The recent enlargements of the European Union have had the effect of increasing the significance of agriculture and have resulted in new economic and social challenges for the common agricultural policy (CAP). The new Member States have huge agricultural potential in terms of human resources and providing further farmland. However, this potential has yet to be fully realised. There is a considerable socioeconomic divide between the old and the new Member States in the agricultural sector. Through its intervention, the EU aims to prepare candidate countries for implementing the CAP, specifically by adapting their infrastructure and reducing the disparities between Member States upon their accession.