Abstract
For over 50 years, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been fundamental for European integration, while taking up to 40% of the budget. The new CAP uses various funds and aims at both agricultural production support and rural development. This dichotomy is confirmed by the Treaty on functioning of the EU and developed by various Regulations and Directives. However, are the stated and implied objectives of the primary and secondary EU law under the auspices of the strategy Europe 2020 in compliance? A pioneering holistic Meta-Analysis of the legislative setting, academic treatises and general public perceptions reveals an unexpected byzantine mosaic of expressed and implied objectives, which are hardly to be reconciled. This threat to the new CAP needs to be addressed. Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth demands a reconciliation of efforts and objectives and cannot afford their fragmentation and anti-polarity.