Implications for developing countries: Agriculture

EU-LDC Background Paper

Relevant publications

Links agriculture

EU-LDC Background Paper

For an overview of the background and issues in the literature on EU enlargement, agriculture and the impact on developing countries, download the EU-LDC background paper below:

EU-LDC Background Paper
	EU enlargement, agriculture and LDC impact

Relevant publications

Enlargement and reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy: impacts on western hemisphere countries (Draft), J.C. Bureau (2002), Inter-American Development Bank, Washington

This document is the draft of an interim report dealing with the implications of enlargement and the reform of the CAP on the countries in the Western Hemisphere. It gives a detailed overview of the CAP: its origins, its characteristics and its future. The link between the CAP and enlargement is analysed. Moreover, the relation between the CAP and third countries is also an important part of the discussion. The appendix includes a large number of tables. Despite the fact that the document is not completed yet, it is providing valuable information concerning enlargement and the effects on non-EU countries.

For the draft click here. 

EU Enlargement: The End Game Begins, N. Cochrane, 2002, in: Agricultural Outlook, Economic Research Service/USDA, November 2002, Washington

Although this article has been written to review the impacts of enlargement on agricultural trade between the United States and the enlarged European Union, it is also interesting for other third countries, because the article highlights a number of sectors which face negative or positive impacts by the enlargement. Special attention is given to cereals, poultry and high-value products.

For the article click here.

External effects of the Common Agricultural Policy reform – Southern African countries series, ERO Documents, 2001, Belgium

This series of documents is published by OXFAM-UK together with the European Research Office (ERO) which focuses on the economic relations between Southern African countries and the European Union. It contains five documents on the impact of the CAP and its reform on development in Southern Africa. Although the enlargement process of the EU is not directly addressed in the documents, the relation between the reform of the CAP and enlargement ensures that these kinds of studies are valuable in understanding the effects of enlargement on developing countries. The documents deal with value added food processing industries, the beef regime, the cereals regime, and the sugar regime.

The documents can be downloaded here.

The Next WTO Round on Agriculture and EU Enlargement: Pressures for Reforms in the EU Common Agricultural Policy, E. Huan-Niemi, J. Niemi, 2001, MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Helsinki

This study focuses on the implications of the WTO commitments of the EU for the dairy, meat and cereals sectors in relation to the Eastern enlargement. Projections are made for the period up to the year 2010. The authors conclude that the Eastern enlargement will make the realisation of meeting the commitments difficult for certain sectors. It is however also underlined that the next round of agricultural negotiations under the WTO umbrella will not become a threat of the European dairy, meat and cereals sectors. However, this is based on the assumption that the upcoming negotiations will follow a path similar to earlier negotiations as the Uruguay Round. Furthermore, a weak Euro will give extra breathing space for the agricultural sectors. Contrarily, if the Euro becomes strong, this will increase the need to reform the CAP.

For the document click here.

EU Enlargement, Agriculture and the WTO, P. Brenton, J.N. Ferrer, 2000, CEPS Working Document No. 138, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels

This document discusses the difficulties for the European Union in dealing simultaneously with multilateral trade negotiations and the preparations for enlargement. In the WTO negotiations the European Union has committed itself to continue the process of reducing support for and protection of the agricultural sector. The document aims to assess the implications of enlargement for the WTO negotiations. The authors review to what extent the current EU-15 and the candidate countries will not be able to meet the requirements of the multilateral negotiations on agriculture. They conclude that an additional reform of the CAP is necessary on top of the reforms of the 1990s and the first years in the 21^st century. In the analysis it becomes clear that once farmers from Central and Eastern Europe will be included in the CAP, they will see the prices for their products rise. This will lead to a higher output resulting in surpluses. This will generate problems with the commitments in the WTO negotiations. The document concludes that, in addition to review of the compensatory payments system in the European Union, additional reductions of European Union prices are.

For the document click here. Note: at the time of writing the link to the document was not working. Please visit the publications' section of the CEPS web site for more information. 

Accession of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to the European Union: Impacts on Agricultural Markets, F. Fuller et alteris, 2000, Working Paper 259, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University

The document contains two scenarios to estimate the consequences of three Central European countries joining the European Union (Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland). A world agricultural multi-market model is applied within the analysis. The authors forecast a decrease in EU prices for all commodities after the accession of the three countries. The domestic prices in the accession countries will however rise. This will result into higher production volumes in these countries. According to the authors the excess supplies will be exported to the EU-15 and export to non-EU countries will decrease. Therefore, it is concluded that the impact of enlargement with these three countries will be limited on world agricultural markets.

For the document click here.

Analysis of the Berlin Accord Reforms of the European Union’s Common Agriculture Policy, B.A. Babcock et alteris, 1999, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University

This short article reviews the implications of the agreements on the CAP which were made during the Berlin Summit in 1999. During this Summit the leaders of the European governments finalized the framework of Agenda 2000 which, among others, lays down the agricultural reforms within the EU up to the year 2006. In the conclusion the authors deal with the effects of the reforms on world agricultural markets and on United States’ exports. They conclude that in particular the Berlin Accord will expand cereal production, thus lowering prices and stimulating EU exports. Price decreases are also expected for the livestock and dairy sectors. The Appendix gives an detailed overview per commodity.

For the article click here.

Expanding ‘Fortress Europe’ – Implications of European Enlargement for Non-Member Regions, S.E. Frandsen, H.G. Jensen, D.M. Vanzetti, 1998, Working Paper No. 12/1998, Danish Research Institute of Food Economics, Copenhagen

This paper describes the effects of the European Union’s enlargement on non-member countries. It focuses on the aspects of agricultural trade. The authors apply the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) and a version of the GTAP in reference to the CAP. The working paper concludes that the trade- and welfare effects of the enlargement are minimal for non-member countries. For some countries there are small gains according to the paper. The negative aspects of the enlargement are not as high as is often expected according to the authors. They acknowledge that there might be deviations for specific sectors in specific countries since the model used, to some extent, aggregated data.

The paper is available here.

Links agriculture 

Agritrade

This site deals with agricultural trade issues in future ACP-EU trade relations. Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the effects of the CAP on developing countries is part of the information available at the web site. The site is maintained by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU based in the Netherlands.

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU (CTA)

CTA aims to provide information concerning agricultural issues to organizations and professions in ACP countries and in the EU. Through its web site it is providing information on topics relevant to ACP agricultural and rural developments. The site includes, among others, publications and links to other organisations .