Implications of EC Economic Integration for Agriculture, Agricultural Trade, and Trade Policy

Implications of EC Economic Integration for Agriculture, Agricultural Trade, and Trade Policy

Completion of the EC12 internal market will lead to industrial and agricultural restructuring. The short run adjustment costs in industry are likely to be worse for the southern EC countries, while adjustment pressures, due to agricultural liberalization will be most severe in the northern EC countries. In formation on farm structures is used to argue that resistance to agricultural trade liberalization by the farmers of the EC north is due to their much larger relative vulnerability. Resistance to internal trade liberalization in turn might induce more invisible trade barriers, and the recent CAP reform is used to illustrate relevant tendencies.