CAP, should be reformed through the elimination of export subsidies, a decoupling of aid in relation to
volumes produced, a single payment per farm and the introduction of eco-conditionalities.
The European Union (15) is by far the leading world exporter of fruit and vegetables (35 billion $,
44% of total exports in 2001-03). It is also the leading world importer (40 billion $, 52% of total
imports), well ahead of NAFTA (19%). However, the majority of trade consists of intra-regional
movements: 82% of imports and 70% of exports for the EU. If we study the origin of produce from
outside the EU, we observe that the leading supplier to Europe is “the rest of the world”, comprising a
group of countries from Latin America (in particular Chile), Africa (in particular Côte d’Ivoire) and Asia
(in particular Thailand).
Tabl. 2: Foreign Suppliers of Fruit and Vegetable EU-15 Market
|
_________Mean 2001-03_________ |
Fruit |
Vegetable |
Processed |
Total |
|
EU_____________________ |
62,2% |
81,6% |
______70,8% |
_______70,5% |
|
RoW___________________ |
21,1% |
_______8,5% |
_______11,8% |
________14,6% |
|
SEMC___________________ |
7,2% |
______4,6% |
_______4,6% |
________5,7% |
|
NAFTA__________________ |
5,8% |
______2,9% |
_______2,7% |
________4,0% |
|
MERCOSUR______________ |
3,2% |
______0,6% |
_______6,9% |
________3,5% |
|
Great China_______________________ |
0,4% |
_______1,8% |
_______3,2% |
_________1,7% |
|
Total (Import Value, $ M.)__________ |
16 568 |
12 075 |
11 779 |
________40 421 |
|
SEMC Share in extra-region trade |
______19% |
______25% |
_______16% |
________19% |
|
EU: European Union (15), NAFTA: North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, RoW : Rest of the World, SEMC: | ||||
|
Source: calculated, from UN, Comtrade, 2005 andEmlinger, 2005________ | ||||
The SEMC cover only about 6% of the total European import market and 19% of extra-community
supplies totalling 2.3 billion $. The economic importance of Euro-Mediterranean trade in fruit and
vegetables is, from the point of view of the EU in its entirety, both low in relation to total trade and
concentrated in a small number of products (Emlinger et al, 2004)4.
The procedure adopted in this paper to estimate the impact of relaxing the EU tariff barriers in the fruit
and vegetable sector can be divided into two sections:
- section 1 which models the risks facing the European regions with a high level of fruit and
vegetable production by means of a “regional vulnerability index” (RVI);
- section 2 which attempts to measure the effects by the scenario method.
4 For details on the characterisation of the fruit and vegetable sector in EU, see Rastoin et al., 2006.