Olive oil sector

The European Union (EU) is the largest producer (accounting almost three quarters) and consumer (accounting two thirds) of the olive oil in the world. Olive growing is a feature of sociocultural life in many Mediterranean regions. Olive trees are grown in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Cyprus, Slovenia and Malta. About 95% of the olive production in the EU is concentrated in Spain, Italy and Greece. Olive oil production and consumption is rising in the world driven by a public positive image.
Olive oil sector

To enhance this public image and to strength the olive oil industry and the position of the EU olive sector in world markets, the Commission presented to the Agricultural Council meeting an action plan for the EU olive oil sector in June 2012. The action plan looks into six areas:

- International Olive Council (IOC);
– Quality and control;
– Restructuring of the sector;
– Structure of the industry;
– Promotion;
– Competition with third countries;

The action plan describes the findings and outlines the actions to be taken in each of the thematic areas. Most of these actions are covered in the reformed Common Agricultural Policy 2014-2020.

The objective of this EPRS keysource is to show sources of information related to the topics set in the action plan for the EU olive oil sector.