Economic analysis for EU accession negotiations. Agri-food issues in the EU’s eastward expansion

Abstract:

The main area of policy controversy and argument within the EU for many years has been the outdated Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), so it should not surprise anyone that in the accession negotiation process for candidate countries the same policy would prove the most difficult obstacle to overcome. This book looks at those difficulties and the prospects for agricultural evolution as the accession countries and Member States adjust to the new demands.

The work is organised over five parts. Part one is a comprehensive introduction which gives the background to the EU, the CAP, the accession process, the experience of transition and the World Trade Organisation. Part two moves to an economic assessment of the CAP both from the perspectives of the EU and the candidate countries. The third part explores issues arising from the harmonisation of the CAP for candidate countries, be they net exporters or net importers, and presents an evaluation of the differences and their importance. Part four moves to the technical issues and the capacity of the candidate countries to meet EU standards in areas such as food standards, environmental regulations and animal welfare. The fifth part is by way of conclusion, drawing on the history of Europe and its search for peaceful cooperation after two world wars, alongside the economic failure of the command economies of Eastern Europe and the rise of new enterprise economies within which agriculture has an important but difficult future role.

James D. Gaisford is Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary, Canada.

William A. Kerr is Van Vliet Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Nicholas Perdikis is Senior Lecturer in the School of Management and Business at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.