Agriculture is a significant economic activity in the Mediterranean basin. For millennia, the cultivation of fruit and vegetables and olives has been of fundamental importance in Mediterranean culture. The proposed project will analyse the macroeconomic environment and the agricultural sector of the thirteen Mediterranean, non-EU countries, namely Malta, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Cyprus, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Israel, Gaza Strip and West Bank, Jordan.
More specifically, the project will:
"Provide a quantitative and qualitative insight of their agricultural sectors with analytical and up-to-date descriptive statistics, presentation of national agricultural policies and description of relevant supply chains.
"Compare the fruit/vegetable and olive oil sector in these regions with EU countries that produce similar products and stipulate their future course
"Provide analytical tools for assessing potential impacts of trade liberalisation with the EU by applying four different models.
"Evaluate the consequences of trade liberalisation on EU as a whole (consumer prices, market effects, budget burden) as well as on individual Member States and generate appropriate policy recommendations
To achieve these objectives, multidisciplinary analysis will be applied. Productivity and efficiency analysis will allow the assessment of efficient and inefficient application of technology in the production of fruit/vegetable and olive oil. Consumer demand analysis will be conducted in the European market so as to analyse Mediterranean countries' export performance and determine future trends and possible impact on EU producing countries.
Additionally, a trade model incorporating policy effects will be constructed in order to assess likely impacts of a free trade area between the EU and the Med. regions under different scenarios...