Reforming the EU Sugar Policy

This article presents and analyses the impacts of the EU sugar policy. Particular attention is given to the modelling of the quite complex policy and the calibration of the global general equilibrium model at the member state level. Two scenarios are analysed, namely a reduction in the intervention price of sugar and the sugar quota. It is found that the economic impacts of the two scenarios are quite different in terms of the effects on European production and trade in sugar as well in terms of efficiency. The impacts for developing countries also differ considerably across the two scenarios.EU sugar policy, general equilibrium modelling, reform scenarios, Agricultural and Food Policy, C68, D58, Q17, Q18,

Revisited framework of agricultural domestic support for CGE modelling: The case of the European Union

A comprehensive database on domestic support is key for any meaningful agri-food policy computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis. In the GTAP database – the main data source used for global CGE analysis – domestic support levels are calculated from the OECD Producer Support Estimate (PSE). The GTAP database version 9, released in 2015, includes a new representation for the European Union (EU) which combines the strengths of two datasets, i.e. the PSE and the Clearance Audit Trail System (CATS) database from the European Commission. This paper compares the version 9 approach with an alternative one that makes the representation of EU expenditures more transparent and inclusive. It clearly highlights that this later includes more payments than the traditional methodology. Indeed an accurate classification shall embrace domestic support going beyond the PSE, being defined as General Services Support Estimate (GSSE) or Consumer Support Estimate (CSE) by the OECD. Accordingly any change in the accounting convention for the EU domestic support can only have a comparative significance if other countries also follow

Domestic Support in the European Union

The engagement of JRC IPTS in contributing to the EU domestic support component of the GTAP database has opened up the opportunity to employ the Clearance Audit Trail System (CATS) database of the European Commission for cataloguing EU domestic support payments by member state. To maintain consistency, EU domestic support within GTAP version 9 data follows the conventions adopted in previous releases. The novelty relies on the combination of the strengths of two datasets, i.e. the Producer Support Estimate (PSE) from the OECD, traditionally used as the only data source in compiling EU domestic support payments in previous releases of the GTAP database, and the aforementioned CATS database.JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom