Page 45 - Microsoft Word - CEU_MA_Thesis_ARDI_PRIKS_FINAL_v1.3.docx

Impact of the domestic level realignments Changes in the domestic political environment played a crucial role for the outcome of the MTR. In some countries, such as France and Ireland, there was wide consensus between farmers' unions and politicians that the BATNA was preferable to the Commission’s proposals and therefore there was strong resistance to reform from those countries (Mahe, Naudet, & Roussillon-Montfort, 2010, p. 105). At the other end of the spectrum were countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden (which had gone through a process of radical liberalisation of its agricultural policy in the early 1990s (Swinnen 2011, 58)) where the agricultural lobby was no longer part of the corporatist support base of the government, while the voice of environmentalists’ was taken seriously. Furthermore, while domestic coalition politics is more complex in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, their dedication to environmentalism (and efficiency of transfers too, perhaps) placed them firmly in the pro-reform, pro-decoupling camp. However, with the exception of Germany, for these countries, having fewer domestic constraints and being firmly placed in the pro-reform camp meant that the bargaining power of the chief executive at the international level was, as the theory chapter suggests, somewhat reduced. Among the middle ground countries with interesting domestic political configurations were Finland and Austria. Finland, a member state with one of the most inefficient farming sector (see figure 9), was governed by Mr. Matti Vanhanen from the agrarian Centre Party. Austria, which could not boast of an efficient farming sector either, was governed by Wolfgang Schüssel from the Christian-democratic Austrian People's Party which has close ties with the Austrian farm lobby, the Agrarmarkt Austria (AMA). Due to their precarious position with the farming community, these chief negotiators supported farm subsidies as small farms in disadvantaged areas of these countries were dependent on subsidies. However, Swinnen (2011, 45