[Margaret Pilkington]

The common Agricultural Policy was first instituted by the Treaty of Rome in 1957(long before we were ever members of the EU....and while the organisation was still called the Common Market...and while the Common Market was purely about trade).
It was implemented in 1962.
Something in the region of 48% of the EU budget is doled out in subsidies to farmers of the EU.

There have been attempts over the years to reform the CAP, but with not much in the way of success, and certainly not much reduction to the EU budget.
The main critics of the CAP cite the fact that is seen as a way of protecting European Agriculture from overseas competition(we are overseas competition even though we are members of the EU) even though farming actually contributes very little to the GDP of the EU.

I hope I have got that right..if I haven't I am sure there will be someone along soon to correct me.