The General Directorate for Agriculture of the European Commission published a Report last week with the title “Prospects for the agricultural markets in the European Union 2004-2011”. Divided into three chapters (EU markets in the short term, agricultural markets and incomes in the new member states, EU markets in the medium and long term), the document presents a largely positive picture of the future of European agriculture. In particular, the Commission considers that sectors such as cereals, meat, milk and its derivatives in spite of the different trend of specific products will benefit as a whole from the recent reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) by guaranteeing the maintenance of the income of farmers. Two data are worth underlining: the production and consumption of milk and cheese, continuously increasing, will determine a decline in the availability (and hence of the consumption) of butter and powdered milk; by 2011, thanks to EU entry, the income of farmers in the new member countries ought to double its present level (in the event of non-membership, the estimates spoke of a net deterioration from 2006 on). For further information, consult the website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/publi/caprep/prospects2004b/index_en.htm
