EU agricultural policies
The EU’s CAP, the Doha Round and developing countries
EU policy-making regarding trade in beef and dairy with developing countries
Authors:
M. Halderman; N. Nelson
Publisher:
University of California, Berkeley Library, 2004
This study analyses the political economy of European Union (EU) policy-making in regard to EU trade in beef and dairy with developing countries. The main objective is to determine and assess how relevant EU policy is made, including the role of key actors and forces both domestic and international.
The study highlights that:
- the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)-related agriculture and trade policies that lead to overproduction and dumping of EU agricultural products are said to undermine the livelihoods of millions of farmers in developing countries who, at the same time, are also denied fair opportunities to export their own agricultural products to the EU market
- those attempting to influence EU agricultural policy generally find it necessary to lobby at both the member state and EU level
- although the number of European farmers has been steadily declining, the continued strength of farmers’ organisations and other agricultural interests has so far served as a bulwark against reform of the CAP; these interests have dominated EU agricultural policy-making for decades, and they are particularly important in the internal politics of France
- during the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations there has been significant pressure on the EU to reform the CAP
- to strengthen the EU’s negotiating position in the agricultural talks at the September 2003 WTO Ministerial Meeting in Cancun, in June 2003, however, the EU member states reached agreement on CAP reform
- increased access to the EU market for beef and veal is currently not directly relevant to poor livestock producers in developing countries as such producers cannot meet current Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) standards or European expectations regarding quality.
