Agrarnet - Project Report “Perspectives of the EU accession of the Balkan countries

Project Report “Perspectives of the EU accession of the Balkan countries – possible consequences...

The results of the study commissioned by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management and carried out by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies were presented by Mr. Josef Pöschl and Mr. Zdenek Lukas to an interested technical audience within the framework of a project presentation at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management.

The study commissioned by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management and carried out by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies: “Perspectives of the EU accession of the Balkan countries Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro as well as of Turkey: Possible consequences for Austria’s agriculture and food industry” was concluded recently.

The Austrian Agricultural Attachées Mr. Christian Brawenz (Attachée for Agriculture, Forestry and Environment in Croatia, accredited in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Bulgaria) and Mr. Ernst Zimmerl (Envoy for agricultural and environmental affairs in Hungary, accredited in Hungary and Romania) also attended the presentation of the results of this study at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management on 6 March 2008 and explained their point of view of the situation in the respective countries.

The following tasks and topics were dealt with in the present project:

1 Development of a database with respect to agriculture and the food industry of the Balkan countries, in fact on the following topics
- agricultural production and food production
- overall economic framework
- exports and imports of agricultural goods and foodstuffs
- employment in agriculture
- input and output price level
- renewable raw materials

2 Status quo analysis and assessment of the consequences of an accession to the EU of the Balkan countries on the Austrian agriculture and food industry

a Analysis of the agriculture and the food industry as well as of the situation of the rural areas of the individual countries – with extensive consideration of the cultivation of GMOs
b Production potentials of the agricultural sectors of these countries and assessment of the chances to exploit these potentials
c Integration in European structures achieved so far, in general and with respect to agriculture and the food industry in particular
d Chances and problems which are likely to result for these countries from an accession to the EU – for their agricultural sectors, their food industries, their trade with agricultural goods and foodstuffs as well as for rural development in these countries and namely before the background of the foreseeable overall economic development
e Possibilities to apply the positive experiences which Austria has made in the field of preservation and development of rural areas to the situation in Balkan countries
f Chances and problems which might result for the Austrian agricultural and food sectors from the accession of the Balkan countries to the EU
g Presumable development of the trade flows between the Balkan countries and Austria, at bilateral level between Austrian and the Balkan states as well as between the Balkan states and the EU Member States
h Direct investments and market presence of the Member States in the countries studied
i Estimations of costs which could accrue for the EU budget, if the CAP in its present form is being reshaped and the Balkan countries become EU Members.
j. Chances for Austrian enterprises within the framework of EU programmes for the Balkan countries including the discussion of opportunities to increase these chances by means of institutional reforms.

3 Exchange rate and Terms of Trade in the agricultural trade of the region Analysis and scenarios of a possible future development

The project conclusion report on this project is published at the research platform DaFNE of the Ministry of Life under the project number 1402.