Overview
The European Union (EU) expanded from 15 to
25 countries in 2004 and to 27 in 2007 (adding Bulgaria
and Romania). The EU
accounted for about 17 percent of the world's agricultural
exports and imports in 2005. The EU-27 is one of the
most important trading partners and competitors of the
United States in world agricultural markets. European
agricultural policy has long had a major impact on world
agricultural markets, and the EU is one of the key participants
in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations on agricultural
trade. ERS provides information and analysis on the EU
agricultural sector, particularly on issues related to
policy, enlargement, and WTO commitments.
Features
European Union-25
Sugar Policy  (January
2006). The EU approved a reform of its sugar policy
in November 2005, which is to be implemented in July
2006 and includes a price reduction of 36.5 percent
to be phased in by 2009. Analysis shows a reduction
of EU sugar production and a decline in EU sugar
exports of 3-4 million metric tons, with a resulting
increase in the world sugar price.
European
Union Adopts Significant Farm Reform (September
2004). The EU continued to reform its Common Agricultural
Policy (CAP) in 2003-04 and will continue in 2005,
building on earlier reforms enacted since 1992. The
latest reforms move to fully decoupled payments through
a single farm payment, which has important implications
for WTO negotiations and EU farmers’
decisions on what to produce. For the full report, see
CAP Reform of 2003-04 (August 2004).
Recommended Readings
The
Future of Biofuels: A Global Perspective (September
2007).
Global biofuel production tripled between 2000 and
2007, but still accounts for less than 3 percent of
the transportation fuel supply worldwide. Biofuels
will likely be part of a portfolio of solutions to
high energy prices, including conservation, more efficient
energy use, and use of other alternative fuels.
EU Enlargement:
Implications for the New Member Countries, the United
States, and World Trade (April 2004). This is
part one in a series of forthcoming reports on the
integration of the transition economies of Central
and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States
into global commodity markets. The report presents
a medium-term forecast of the changes that EU enlargement
will bring to commodity production and trade in Poland,
Hungary, and the Czech Republic as well as to the
enlarged EU, and to U.S. and world trade.
U.S.-EU Food and Agriculture
Comparisons (April 2005).
The European Union and United States are the world's largest agricultural
traders and among the largest producers and consumers.
This report provides information and analysis that
reflects the similarities and differences in their
agricultural sectors when comparing farm structure,
production, consumption, trade, productivity, farm
policy, and responses to environmental issues. Implications
of EU enlargement for U.S. trade are also addressed.
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
WTO Agricultural Trade Policy Commitments
Database. A queriable database containing data
on implementation of trade policy commitments by WTO
member countries. Data on domestic support, export
subsidies, and tariffs are organized for comparison
across countries.
Agricultural Baseline
Projections.
Longrun projections for the U.S. agricultural sector, including
trade with the EU and other countries.
Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United
States (FATUS). U.S. agricultural exports and imports,
volume and value, by country, by commodity, and by calendar
year, fiscal year, and month, for varying periods, such as
1935 to the present or 1989 to the present. Updated monthly
or annually.
Production, Supply,
and Distribution (PS&D). Official USDA data
on production, supply, and distribution of agricultural commodities
for the United States and major importing and exporting countries.
The database provides projections for the coming year and historical
data for more than 200 countries and major crop, livestock,
fishery, and forest products.
Recent Research Developments
Global
Biofuel Developments: Modeling the Effects on Agriculture.
Sponsored by ERS and the Farm Foundation, this workshop
on February 27-28, 2007, featured presentations on
the multiple effects of biofuel policies on agricultural
production and trade. Academics, private industry representatives,
and ERS staff presented and discussed various methods
of analyzing and modeling the effects of biofuel policies
in the United States, Brazil, the EU, and
various Asian countries, as well as the effects of
such policies on developing countries. (The EU
has mandated that renewable fuels replace 20
percent of total energy use and 10 percent of transport
fuels by 2020.) The effects
on agriculture vary by policy, feedstock used, byproducts,
infrastructure, and investment level. Commodity prices,
crop area allocation, livestock feeding, and commodity
trade are affected in countries producing ethanol and
biodiesel. Also discussed were future modeling efforts
to capture the effects of producing ethanol from cellulosic
sources.
WTO:
Competing Policy Issues and Agendas for Agricultural
Trade. Sponsored by ERS and the Farm Foundation,
a conference on September 17, 2003, brought
together researchers, policymakers, and industry representatives
to address trade policy issues and
their implications. In addition to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) negotiations, other trade policy
developments such as the proliferation of bilateral
free trade agreements and enlargement of the European
Union are likely to have lasting impacts on agricultural
producers, consumers, industry, and global food markets.
Related Briefing Rooms
World Trade Organization
Agricultural Baseline
Projections
U.S. Agricultural
Trade
Related Links
Additional information on the European Union is available from
USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, other U.S. Government,
international organizations, and EU official sites.
- Foreign Agricultural
Service (FAS). Wide range of information and data
on U.S. agricultural trade and the agriculture and agricultural
policy of the EU and other foreign countries.
- FAS, U.S. Mission
to the European Union, Brussels. Information
on U.S.-EU agricultural policy and bilateral trade issues,
EU food import rules, animal product import rules, fruit
and vegetable
standards,
and import duties and quotas.
- European
Commission, Agriculture. The Agriculture Directorate
of the European Commission, the administrative and regulatory
body of the
European Union responsible for agricultural policy, agricultural
markets, agricultural statistics, and international agricultural
trade relations.
See all related links...
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