European agricultural policies emphasize the need to take into account the multifonctionality of agriculture, and reflect objectives concerning employment and the preservation of the economic and social texture in rural areas. These new policies grant new importance to farms which are part of complex systems of activities (pluriactivity, etc.). A comparison of regulations governing conditions of eligibility for four types of direct paiements in five countries (Germany, Spain, France, Greece and the UK) reveals a real change of the standards of occupational practice taken into account in the economic aid for agriculture. Yet, this trend is ambiguous and can also be interpreted as a step towards deregulation of the labor market. This could result in an increasing number of precarious jobs.
