On 21 December 1968, the European Commission submits to the Council a memorandum on agricultural reform. This is the Agriculture 1980 plan, also known as the Mansholt Plan, named after the European Commissioner with special responsibility for agriculture.

In 1968, Sicco Mansholt, member of the European Commission with special responsibility for agriculture, holds a press conference in which he sets out the proposals put forward by the Commission regarding a reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) and the fixing of agricultural prices.

In this interview, Hans-August Lücker, former general rapporteur on agricultural matters in the European Parliament, discusses the implications of the Plan for the Modernisation of European Agriculture and outlines the agricultural price-fixing mechanism in the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 20 February 1969, Sicco Mansholt, European Commissioner with special responsibility for agriculture, gives an interview to the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, on his plan to reform the common agricultural policy (CAP)

On 29 April 1970, Sicco Mansholt, European Commissioner with special responsibility for agriculture, publishes his plans for agricultural reform.

On 15 February 1971, Sicco Mansholt (left), Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Agriculture, Michel Cointat (centre), French Agriculture Minister, and Franco Maria Malfatti (right), President of the European Commission, talk in the margins of the Council of Agriculture Ministers of the Six in Brussels.

On 29 April 1971, Sicco Mansholt, European Agriculture Commissioner, denounces the attitude of the officers of the European Confederation of Agriculture (ECA) as the crisis involving European farmers unfolds.

On 31 March 1971, following the demonstrations by European farmers in Brussels, Sicco Mansholt, European Agriculture Commissioner, writes to the President of the Belgian Farmers’ Union and invites him to speak in a public debate about the implications of a reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

In February 1972, Sicco Mansholt, European Commissioner with special responsibility for agriculture, writes to Franco Maria Malfatti, President of the Commission, and to the other Members of the Commission encouraging them to address in a ‘testament' the most serious current problems.

On 6 March 1972, Alfredo Diana, President of the Italian General Confederation of Agriculture (Confagricoltura), answers questions posed by the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera on the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

Despite the unpopularity of some measures included in the Mansholt Plan, the Council of Ministers rally, and on 17 April 1972, adopt a directive on farm modernisation.

Despite the unpopularity of certain measures in the Mansholt Plan, the Council of Ministers actively supports and then adopts, on 17 April 1972, a directive concerning measures to encourage the cessation of farming and the re-allocation of agricultural land for structural improvement.

Despite the unpopularity of certain measures in the Mansholt Plan, the Council of Ministers actively supports and then adopts, on 17 April 1972, a directive concerning the acquisition of occupational skills by persons engaged in agriculture.

On 17 April 1972, Sicco Mansholt, appointed President of the European Commission one month earlier, defends, before the Council, three socio-structural Directives designed to achieve the modernisation of European farms.

In 1974, in a published collection of interviews, Sicco Mansholt, former European Commissioner with special responsibility for agriculture, describes the issues and the difficulties associated with his plan for a reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 25 September 1974, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung calls for a reform of the European agricultural market and for better political cooperation between the Nine.

‘Working at full stretch. And now, once again, it’s our French colleague’s turn to play us his record.’ On 4 October 1975, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung deplores the attitude of the European Agriculture Ministers, who, despite their declarations of intent, are dragging their feet when it comes to implementing a reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 8 April 1972, commenting on the French referendum on the ratification of the Treaty on the accession to the European Communities of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and Norway, to be held on 23 April, the RTL editorial team in Paris ponders on the implications of the proposals put forward by Sicco Mansholt, President of the European Commission, for a fundamental reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

In this interview, Hans-August Lücker, former general rapporteur on agricultural matters in the European Parliament, recalls the personality and working methods of Sicco Mansholt, European Commissioner for Agriculture and, in 1970, the author of an ambitious plan to reform the common agricultural policy (CAP).

In this interview, Paul Collowald, former Deputy Spokesman for the European Commission, describes the actions of Sicco Mansholt, former Vice-President of the European Commission with special responsibility for Agriculture and subsequently President of the European Commission.

In this interview, Georges Rencki, Head of Division responsible for the policy to modernise agricultural structures in the Directorate-General for Agriculture (1968–1977), outlines the measures proposed in the Mansholt Plan for the modernisation of agricultural holdings. He explains the consequences of the adoption of the Plan by the Council and emphasises Mansholt’s efforts to inform those working in the agricultural industry.

In this interview, Helmut von Verschuer, former member of the Private Office and close colleague of Sicco Mansholt, describes the latter’s personality and working methods.