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Abstract
This synthesis report focuses on the evolution of agricultural market and trade
policies in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) candidate countries in the
period 1997 to 2001. The developments were crucially influenced by (OECD,
2000a):
• the situation in world agricultural markets;
• the overall macroeconomic development in the countries considered;
• the prospective EU accession;
• bringing domestic agricultural policy in line with the Uruguay
Agreement on Agriculture (URAA).
High 1997 agricultural prices on world commodity markets were followed by a
marked depression in 1998. With the exemption of milk products this trend continued
in 1999. Likewise the economic and financial crisis in Russia had a considerable
impact on agricultural policies. It hit the regions´ exports resulting in a
decline in industrial as well as agricultural output1. Thus, compared to the previous
years most of the CEE candidate countries experienced a slow down or even
negative rates of growth in their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1998 and
1999. In addition those countries felt increased budgetary pressures. Agricultural
market and trade policies largely reacted to these developments. Border protection
was increased in many countries in 1998. This was combined in some cases
with export subsidies, and ad hoc producer aids to mitigate the adverse effects.
The prospect of EU accession also had an influence on the agricultural policy
design in the region with many countries implementing EU-type policy instruments.
Thus, the importance of per hectare and per head payments increased in
the region, quota like measures were implemented in some countries and as part
of this development Estonia introduced tariffs for agro-food imports. Finally,
many countries also continued to adjust their policies to comply with their
commitments agreed to in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Despite these general tendencies there are also differences in the development of
agricultural policies between the various CEE candidates. Chapter 2 therefore
provides an overview of the changes of agricultural market and trade policies in
each of the 10 accession countries. It addresses the policy issues market access
(e.g. tariffs, special safeguard measures), export subsidies (value and quantities)
and domestic support (intervention policies, direct payments, input subsidies, production quotas). Chapter 3 provides a brief assessment of recent policy developments
in the region in the light of EU accession and WTO commitments.
The development of prices and values, e.g. export subsidies, agricultural support
expenditure, were presented in the background papers provided by the country
experts in current prices in national currencies. In this synthesis report they are
in addition converted in Euro. This firstly allows for a better comparison among
the CEE candidate countries as well as between those countries and the EU.
Some of the accession countries still suffer from high inflation and thus a strong
depreciation of their currency. Thus secondly, the conversion to Euros allows
the comparisons to be made in real terms.