In 1981-83 the government has tried to set up a new agricultural policy favouring solidarity and employe- ment. This policy was not as successfull as expected looking to the fact that changes advertized had to be watered down or dropped. To try to explain the difficulties faced by Mrs E. Cresson Minister of Agriculture one has to analyze the triple handicap of legitimacy this policy presented as far as : the farming world, the administration and the general policy of the government were concerned. Only a « policy of the farm » could conciliate the goals of the general policy and the defense of an employment policy for rural areas.
