Today’s agricultural policy is barely recognisable. Not only has the CAP been vastly simplified with the amalgamation of an array of different direct payment schemes into a single farm payment, it is also a more efficient mechanism, meeting more objectives at a lower cost. A policy that once ate up a massive two thirds of the total EU budget now absorbs less than half, a figure that will be down to just one-third in ten years’ time. And whilst its cost might be lower, its scope is constantly widening following the introduction of a comprehensive rural development policy which supports the diversification, restructuring and evolution of rural areas and economies throughout the European Union.