Countries located in north western Europe, have all been influenced by many similar drivers over the past 50 years, and their landscape development trajectory has largely been coordinated with some differences depending on the history, and natural potentials. The EU has influenced land management and land use through the Common Agricultural Policies (CAP) and several other policies, however it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between effects of EU policies and the general trends on the European continent.
In a Danish perspective, the formal effects of EU membership have been effectuated since the accession to the EU by 1973, however the trend towards intensification and industrialisation have emerged since the 2nd world war. Since 1973, landscape challenge have changed from intensification to debates on marginalisation in the early 1980s, introduction of the environmental policies in the mid 1980s with focus on the aquatic environment and lately towards a focus on biodiversity in respect to implementation of the habitats directive. A conglomerate of policy causes and effects on landscape changes is described in details from Denmark in the period from 1973-2014, and with specific analysis of data in a case study area in the period from 2000-2010.
The politically ifluenced development in landscapes has been driven by EU policies and institutionalized national traditions, agendas, and discourse. The choices have largely been based on the dichotomy between Agriculturalists and Environmentalists; It is examined if this dichotomy is still determining the choice of implementation of the agri-environmental policy measures in a Danish context. National motives and interest organisations are examined, through text analysis and interviews. Last a perspective on future development is provided. The results are discussed based on perspectives from case studies in other EU countries as part of the Volante project.