EVOLUTION, CURRENT STATE AND FUTURE OFEU TRADE PREFERENCES FOR AGRICULTURALPRODUCTS FROM NORTH-AFRICAN AND NEAR-EASTCOUNTRIES

The EU recently completed negotiating a series of Association Agreements withMediterranean countries. Trade preferences for agricultural goods granted under theseAgreements, as well as under former arrangements, are analyzed by calculating the valueof preference margins at several stages in the evolution of preferences. The total value ofpreference margins for all countries covered was about €130 million under theagreements of the mid-1970s and increased by 48 per cent until 1995; by 2000 this valuedeclined by about 14 per cent due to reduced EU MFN tariffs. The extended preferencesunder the new Agreements more than compensate for this decline and will result in a totalvalue of preference margins of €226 million once all Agreements have entered into force....