Final Report Summary - TRADEAG (Agricultural trade agreements)
The ultimate aim of the TRADEAG project was to provide economic analyses to policymakers involved in trade negotiations and agricultural policy design. Specifically, the objectives addressed by the various work packages (WPs) included the delivery of conceptual and empirical tools to:
- understand the main drivers towards regionalisation and monitor the evolution of regional integration processes;
- assess the degree of openness, trade restrictiveness and protection of the EU, in comparison to other developed countries;
- analyse the problems raised by the articulation of preferential agreements with multilateral negotiations and with future agreements under discussion;
- quantify the effect of trade agreements on trade flows and on the agricultural sector of an enlarged Union;
- provide objective analysis of the particular issue of trade with developing countries, including non- tariff barriers and tariff escalation;
- provide an assessment of the nature of the various 'generations' of the European Union agreements, their depth integration and their efficiency in reaching trade, welfare and, when relevant, development objectives.
The development of detailed databases and up-to-date methodology intended to make it possible to assess the effects of EU trade agreements on world trade, on EU imports and exports, and on the economy of partner countries such as of the African and Mediterranean countries. The measurement of market openness and preferential access (degree of protection, utilisation of preferences, tariff escalation) in the EU and comparison to other developed countries intended to help EU negotiators.
The development of quantitative instruments, including two large scale models, intended to provide a forward looking assessment of future agreements, including their effects on EU trade and on the Common Agricultural Policy (new agreements, multilateral negotiations, resulting in a possible erosion of preferences and trade diversion), and to answer the Commission's need for quantitative simulations. An objective was also to integrate the scattered research on multilateral and regional trade agreements so as to include various specialists of EU trade with particular regions and to be able to analyse the effects of the various agreements and the way they interact with each other.
The outputs of the project were the following:
- a set of detailed data bases on EU tariffs, barriers, trade, including those under preferential agreements;
- similar databases for selected countries;
- a critical review of existing instruments and analyses;
- analyses of agricultural trade, tariffs, quotas under preferential agreements;
- indicators of openness of the EU and other developed countries;
- a general equilibrium model to simulate the impact of trade preferential policy schemes and the effect of multilateral negotiations on trade flows and welfare;
- an original modelling tool to simulate the impact of trade agreements on the EU common market organisations;
- several sector/region-focused partial equilibrium tools;
- analyses of the effectiveness of selected EU trade agreements for developing countries, and a comparison with the preferential treatment granted by the US in the case of Africa;
prospective analyses of possible future agreements with Mercosur (the Common Southern Market), Russia and their effects on the agricultural sector of an enlarged EU;
- case studies like the impact of deepening the Euro-Mediterranean and Balkans agreement on specific EU regions and sectors (e.g. fruits and vegetables);
- an analysis of the effects of future multilateral agreements on existing preferential trade schemes of the EU.
- understand the main drivers towards regionalisation and monitor the evolution of regional integration processes;
- assess the degree of openness, trade restrictiveness and protection of the EU, in comparison to other developed countries;
- analyse the problems raised by the articulation of preferential agreements with multilateral negotiations and with future agreements under discussion;
- quantify the effect of trade agreements on trade flows and on the agricultural sector of an enlarged Union;
- provide objective analysis of the particular issue of trade with developing countries, including non- tariff barriers and tariff escalation;
- provide an assessment of the nature of the various 'generations' of the European Union agreements, their depth integration and their efficiency in reaching trade, welfare and, when relevant, development objectives.
The development of detailed databases and up-to-date methodology intended to make it possible to assess the effects of EU trade agreements on world trade, on EU imports and exports, and on the economy of partner countries such as of the African and Mediterranean countries. The measurement of market openness and preferential access (degree of protection, utilisation of preferences, tariff escalation) in the EU and comparison to other developed countries intended to help EU negotiators.
The development of quantitative instruments, including two large scale models, intended to provide a forward looking assessment of future agreements, including their effects on EU trade and on the Common Agricultural Policy (new agreements, multilateral negotiations, resulting in a possible erosion of preferences and trade diversion), and to answer the Commission's need for quantitative simulations. An objective was also to integrate the scattered research on multilateral and regional trade agreements so as to include various specialists of EU trade with particular regions and to be able to analyse the effects of the various agreements and the way they interact with each other.
The outputs of the project were the following:
- a set of detailed data bases on EU tariffs, barriers, trade, including those under preferential agreements;
- similar databases for selected countries;
- a critical review of existing instruments and analyses;
- analyses of agricultural trade, tariffs, quotas under preferential agreements;
- indicators of openness of the EU and other developed countries;
- a general equilibrium model to simulate the impact of trade preferential policy schemes and the effect of multilateral negotiations on trade flows and welfare;
- an original modelling tool to simulate the impact of trade agreements on the EU common market organisations;
- several sector/region-focused partial equilibrium tools;
- analyses of the effectiveness of selected EU trade agreements for developing countries, and a comparison with the preferential treatment granted by the US in the case of Africa;
prospective analyses of possible future agreements with Mercosur (the Common Southern Market), Russia and their effects on the agricultural sector of an enlarged EU;
- case studies like the impact of deepening the Euro-Mediterranean and Balkans agreement on specific EU regions and sectors (e.g. fruits and vegetables);
- an analysis of the effects of future multilateral agreements on existing preferential trade schemes of the EU.
