the Common Agricultural Policy
/ðə ˌkɒmən æɡrɪˈkʌltʃərəl pɒləsi/
/ðə ˌkɑːmən æɡrɪˈkʌltʃərəl pɑːləsi/
(abbreviation the CAP)
- the policy introduced in 1962 by the European Community, now the European Union, to protect European farmers. Under the system, farmers were paid even if they produced food that was not needed. Too much food was produced as a result, and this was given names such as the butter mountain and the wine lake. This great waste of money caused much argument about how to improve the system, and in the 1980s some changes were made. One of the solutions (called set-aside) was to pay farmers not to produce food in some of their fields. In 2004, changes were introduced to reduce the CAP budget. Since then there have been further reductions in the amount of money that farmers receive.
共同农业政策：欧洲共同体（现为欧盟）于1962年出台的保护欧洲农民的政策。在该制度下，即使农民生产了不需要的食物，他们也会获得报酬。结果产生了太多的食物，并以黄油山和葡萄酒湖为名。大量的金钱浪费引起了关于如何改善系统的争论，并且在1980年代进行了一些更改。解决方案之一（称为预留）是要付钱给农民不要在某些田地里生产粮食。2004年，引入了一些更改以减少CAP预算。从那时起，农民获得的钱数进一步减少。