The Doha Round Negotiations and EU's Common Agricultural Policy

The Doha Round, launched in 2001, is the longest going (still unfinished) Round of negotiations in the history of the World Trade Organization and its predecessor GATT. The main roadblock to Doha’s successful completion is disagreement on agricultural issues – the Special Safeguard Mechanism, market access and domestic support. This paper analyzes the key factors underpinning the positions of developing and developed countries, with a focus on the role of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and some of EU’s preferential trade arrangements