This paper compares the two arms of public intervention in agricultural structures put in place by the European Union : the one under objective 5a, and the other as part of objective 5b of the European structural fund reform. Observations made in Burgundy beetween 1991 and 1993 indicate that the conventional structural policy remains the more important quantitatively ; its impact is more widely recognized and more significant. The territorialized agricultural policy, in its first stage of implementation, is having difficulty in getting across its distinctive character and often appears as a mere adjunct to the usual measures. However, in some areas, it affects a wide section of the farming community and prompts initiatives and behaviour that may be the way forward for better integration of agriculture in the development of rural activities.
