The contribution of research to agricultural policy in Europe

This paper surveys some of the key themes in European agricultural policy research in recent decades. It identifies three main drivers of this research: a gradual broadening of the scope of the discipline in response to changing political priorities and values; an enlarged toolbox of policy instruments that has raised new questions and required the development of new modes of analysis; and the availability of new data sources, increased computing power, as well as the introduction of new methodological advances from economics, statistics and psychology that have opened the way to new and more powerful analytical tools. Particular attention is paid to direct payments and agri-environment-climate measures as examples of new policy instruments that have driven the research agenda. The paper concludes by identifying requirements to ensure that agricultural policy research remains vibrant and relevant in the future.