Policy harmonized approach for the EU agricultural sector modelling

Policy harmonized (PH) approach allows for the quantitative assessment of the impact of various elements of EU CAP direct support schemes, where the production effects of direct payments are accounted through reaction prices formed by producer price and policy price add-ons. Using the AGMEMOD model the impacts of two possible EU agricultural policy scenarios upon beef production have been analysed full decoupling with a switch from historical to regional Single Payment scheme or alternatively with re-distribution of country direct payment envelopes via introduction of EU-wide flat area payment. The PH approach, by systematizing and harmonizing the management and use of policy data, ensures that projected differential policy impacts arising from changes in common EU policies reflect the likely actual differential impact as opposed to differences in how common policies are implemented within analytical models. In the second section of the paper the AGMEMOD models structure is explained. The policy harmonized evaluation method is presented in the third section. Results from an application of the PH approach are presented and discussed in the papers penultimate section, while section 5 concludes.

Policy harmonized approach for the EU agricultural sector modelling

Policy harmonized (PH) approach allows for the quantitative assessment of the impact of various elements of EU CAP direct support schemes, where the production effects of direct payments are accounted through reaction prices formed by producer price and policy price add-ons. Using the AGMEMOD model the impacts of two possible EU agricultural policy scenarios upon beef production have been analysed - full decoupling with a switch from historical to regional Single Payment scheme or alternatively with re-distribution of country direct payment envelopes via introduction of EU-wide flat area payment. The PH approach, by systematizing and harmonizing the management and use of policy data, ensures that projected differential policy impacts arising from changes in common EU policies reflect the likely actual differential impact as opposed to differences in how "common" policies are implemented within analytical models. In the second section of the paper the AGMEMOD model's structure is explained. The policy harmonized evaluation method is presented in the third section. Results from an application of the PH approach are presented and discussed in the paper's penultimate section, while section 5 concludes

Reuse of treated water in European agriculture: Potential to address water scarcity under climate change

The use of reclaimed or treated water from urban wastewater treatment plants for irrigation has been proposed as an alternative water source to address water scarcity issues in Europe. In this paper using agro-economic modelling, we analyse if treated water available for agriculture has the potential to reduce freshwater abstraction and, consequently, water stress. Implementing exogenous treated water quantities as an additional water supply at NUTS 2 level in the CAPRI model, we found that treated water reuse is a possible alternative supply source to address water shortages with a very negligible effect on farmers’ income and food production in the EU. However, the actual water reuse and water stress reduction is very limited due to high costs. Even climate change effects on water availability and precipitation failed to induce higher use. The one-size-fits-all approach modelled via a flat rate water price only encourages the reuse of treated water in a limited number of EU member states. Thus, in order to maximise the potential of reused water to address water scarcity, different rates should be used so as to ensure higher treated water volumes at lower costs

Impacts of climate change in European agriculture: the interplay between irrigation and agrifood markets

Water is vital for agriculture and thus food security. While irrigation has helped boost agricultural production in many areas, uncertainties linked to the effects of climate change on water supply and demand are expected to add new pressures on water resources and agricultural sustainability. Ensuring agricultural and water sustainability today and in the future requires more effort to analyse the challenges faced by agriculture. Nevertheless, despite the important role of water as a driver for agricultural production, the interplay between irrigation water and food production is lacking in most previous studies (Sulser et al. 2010)

Impacts of climate change in European agriculture: the interplay between irrigation and agrifood markets

Water is vital for agriculture and thus food security. While irrigation has helped boost agricultural production in many areas, uncertainties linked to the effects of climate change on water supply and demand are expected to add new pressures on water resources and agricultural sustainability. Ensuring agricultural and water sustainability today and in the future requires more effort to analyse the challenges faced by agriculture. Nevertheless, despite the important role of water as a driver for agricultural production, the interplay between irrigation water and food production is lacking in most previous studies (Sulser et al. 2010)

Policy assessment of an EU wide flat area CAP payments system

While the evolution of the Common Agricultural previous termPolicynext term (CAP) until 2013 is clear, European Union (EU) budgetary pressures and the perceived unfairness of the distribution of CAP support across Member States has lead to uncertainty over the design of the CAP post 2013. One comprehensive reform option being considered is the implementation of an EU wide flat area payment (EUWFAP) system and a reduction of the total budget available for direct payments. It is hypothesised that the implementation of this previous termpolicynext term proposal would lead to significant changes in the distribution of the EU budget and to the redistribution of agricultural production between the Member States, which could hinder the implementation of the proposal. This paper evaluates the rationality of the EUWFAP, based on the analysis of its budgetary and market impacts. Using the AGMEMOD 2020 combined model, the introduction of the EUWFAP in 2013 is compared with a baseline continuation of the current previous termpolicy.next term Results suggest that there would be minor negative impacts on the agricultural production at the EU level, but that more substantial impact for some commodities, most notably beef, and could occur in the individual EU Member States. An important outcome of such a previous termpolicynext term reform would be a substantial change in the budget allocation between Member States, which could help mitigate the budgetary tensions between the Member States