European Union WT/TPR/S/248/Rev.1 Page 133

4. Developments in selected sectors

   1. Agriculture

      1. Agriculture in the European Union

         1. In 2009, agriculture production contributed about 1.6% to gross value added for all economic sectors in the EU and about 5.1% to employment. In 2010, agriculture goods (WTO definition) represented about 6.7% of total EU exports and about 5.7% of total EU imports.

         2. The gross value added for agriculture, hunting and forestry in the EU was €168 billion in 2009. It has varied over the past ten years reflecting changes in prices, and is down from €194 billion in 2007.¹ To some extent, the changes in farm gate prices have reflected changes in policies as the Common Agricultural Policy has undergone considerable reform over the past ten years; they also reflect changes in international prices, which peaked in early 2008, fell back in 2009, and rose again in 2010. Despite the wide range of products grown and raised in the EU, six commodities make up over half of total value of production by value (Table IV.1).

         3. Support to agriculture has been reformed significantly over the past few years, but remains considerable in both absolute and relative terms. In 2009, total support to the agriculture sector was estimated by the OECD to be just over €100 billion, which is the equivalent of nearly one third of the total value of production, while support to producers was estimated to be about €87 billion.²

Table IV.1

Output at basic prices for selected agricultural products, 2008-10

(€ million)

	2008	%	2009	%	2010	%
Total value of production (at farm gate)	352,620	100	308,458	100	326,382	100
of which:
Milk	52,718	15.0	41,782	13.5	47,413	14.5
Pigs	32,993	9.4	29,987	9.7	29,809	9.1
Cattle	30,737	8.7	28,665	9 .3	28,578	8.8
Fresh vegetables	29,820	8.5	28,620	9.3	30,869	9.5
Plants and flowers	20,072	5.7	19,302	6.3	19,682	6.0
Other forage plants	18,942	5.4	17,830	5.8	..	..
Wheat and spelt	25,620	7.3	17,019	5.5	20,651	6.3
Poultry	17,487	5.0	16,312	5.3	16,877	5.2
Wine	16,298	4.6	16,065	5.2	15,668	4.8

.. Not available.

Note: Figures for 2010 are estimates.

Source: EuroStat database. Viewed at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/themes [February 2011].

4. The EU produces a very wide range of agricultural products and is the world's biggest producer of several agricultural commodities, including dairy milk, wheat, grapes, olives, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds, and it is the second or third biggest producer of a number of other products, such as beef, pig meat, eggs, and potatoes (Table IV.2).³ The EU is also a major exporter and importer of agricultural products (Table IV.3 and Table IV.4). With a large and diversified trade in agriculture products and a large share of the world market, its agriculture policies can have a significant impact on other countries, particularly on those whose economies depend on agriculture. The reverse is also true, that the EU, as a major producer, importer, and exporter of agriculture products is also affected by the agriculture policies of other countries.

Table IV.2

Production of selected agricultural products, 2006-09

('000 tonnes)

	2006	2007	2008	2009	% world production in 2009
Pig meat	21,804.9	22,697.0	22,387.7	21,888.1	20.6
Wheat	126,735.0	120,263.6	150,296.7	138,725.1	20.3
Butter and ghee	2,022.6	2,022.4	2,011.1	1,953.1	20.3
Cheese	8,669.0	8,770.5	8,762.1	8,692.0	44.9
Beer of barley	39,928.1	40,004.2	39,470.7	38,404.7	22.8
Wine	17,672.8	15,796.6	15,931.0	16,336.2	60.3

Source: FAOStat database. Viewed at: http://faostat.fao.org/default.aspx and European Commission.

Table IV.3

Exports of selected agricultural products, 2006-09

HS Code	Product		2006	2007	2008	2009	% of world exports in 2009
0203	Pig meat	US$ million	2,584.5	2,738.2	3,696.6	2,895.8	28.5
		'000 tonnes	900.7	906.7	1,230.0	1,008.3	25.0
0405	Butter	US$ million	600.8	704.9	740.1	503.5	23.2
		'000 tonnes	241.1	211.7	153.1	147.5	16.2
0406	Cheese and curd	US$ million	2,785.0	3,347.1	3,780.7	3,301.1	30.9
		'000 tonnes	586.5	595.8	554.6	576.8	n.a.
1001	Wheat and meslin	US$ million	2,203.7	2,181.9	6,157.4	4,628.2	21.4
		'000 tonnes	13,978.3	8,448.4	18,184.9	20,602.6	16.4
2106	Food preparations not specified elsewhere	US$ million '000 tonnes	3,745.8 808.1	4,345.5 855.0	4,725.3 868.1	4,749.6 918.8	31.7 24.0
2203	Beer	US$ million	2,421.7	2,749.3	3,041.9	3,016.8	45.5
		'000 tonnes	2,173.4	2,388.2	2,588.2	2,630.5	37.0
2204	Wine of fresh grapes, incl fortified	US$ million '000 tonnes	6,957.0 1,839.0	8,272.2 1,893.3	9,205.3 1,799.0	7,534.7 1,664.6	52.3 34.4
2208	Distilled spirits	US$ million	8,061.2	9,098.5	9,154.2	7,990.6	28.7
		'000 tonnes	1,107.3	1,154.6	1,121.6	1,039.3	28.7
	Total agricultural exports	US$ million	86,592.5	99,692.2	118,115.8	102,144.7

n.a. Not applicable.

Note: WTO definition of agricultural products.

Source: UN Comtrade database. Viewed at: http://comtrade.un.org/and European Commission.

5. The agriculture situation in the EU varies considerably from one member State to another and within individual member States. In general, the lower GDP per capita the more important is agriculture to the economy and to employment. Thus, in 2009, although the gross value added in agriculture was 1.6% of total GVA in the EU as a whole, it was over 7% in Romania and less than 1% in Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. However, in all member States, agriculture's percentage contribution to GVA is declining, with the greatest falls in those states where it made the biggest contribution to the economy notably for Bulgaria and Romania where the relative decline in agriculture reflects general economic growth that started in the pre-accession period.

Table IV.4