The Perspective of Sustainable Agriculture in the European Union. Possible Relations between the Multifunctionality and the Provision of Public Goods

Since the 90s the CAP reform has begun to focus on the environmental sustainability of the agricultural production cycle. Indeed, the current model of agriculture is based on the topic of multifunctionality, introduced for the first time by the reform named "Agenda 2000". This model is related to the inherent characteristics of the agricultural production and provides a wide range of public goods. Referring to the theory of public goods, this study suggests a classification of goods through a public utility level and analyzes the criteria that can be used for this one. It also provides a list of public goods associated with agriculture and examines the relationship between agricultural multifunctionality and provision of public goods.