Integrating environmental aims in the agricultural policy of the European Union was a main aim of the 1992 CAP-reform. This book presents a study of the socio-economic framing conditions as well as the attitudes and orientations within the agricultural population towards the European agri-environmental policy. It is based on a research project in three member countries, France, Germany, and Portugal, where more than 600 farmers have been interviewed. The results indicate that a change towards more ecologically sustainable forms of agricultural production requires much broader political and social support to grow beyond the dimensions of a marginal green subsector of agriculture.

The Editors: Karl Bruckmeier, sociologist; his research areas include environmental sociology, agricultural and environmental policies. He is senior lecturer and researcher in human ecology, Gothenburg University, Sweden. Wiking Ehlert, sociologist; his research areas include European politics and society. He is professor in Sociology, Osnabrück University, Germany.