reviewed & published Searching for Common Ground. European Union
Enlargement and Agricultural Policy FAO agricultural policy and
economic development series Series number Edited by: Hathaway,
K., Hathaway, D. for the Policy Assistance Support Service,
Policy and Programme Development Support Division, FAO
Throughout history, policy, including agricultural policy of
interest here, has been influenced by a society's values
relating to concepts and perceptions of agriculture, nature,
equity, and the associated beliefs about the rights or wrongs of
the situation. The way in which "values and beliefs" influence
the political debate and its outcome becomes possibly more
apparent when societies with different histories and cultures,
and therefore differing values and beliefs, are brought together
for instance on the occasion of discussions aimed at the
grouping of countries into regional blocs for economic or
political reasons. Beyond the well documented economic and
strategic interests of the potential partners, s