In 2013, the EU adopted the "greening" reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, which introduced regionalized direct payments with partial convergence and green payment in an amount of 30% of direct support. In addressing the question as to which factors have shaped reform and how they have done so, the article proposes that seven historical mechanisms are observed, of which three are contextual (external trade, budget costs and paradigm change), and four are institutional (policy network, path dependency, decision-making processes and the quality of the agency). Based on process tracing and a comparative analysis of the causal mechanisms in place, the article deduces that, among the contextual mechanisms, the key role was played by budgetary costs and, among the institutional mechanisms, the key role was played by decision making on the budget which required the consent of all the member states, thereby strengthening the position of the past beneficiaries of the policy.
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