The paper reviews the development of the organic sector and the institutional conditions in European countries. On the basis of three case studies the interrelationship between organisations of organic and conventional agriculture in the areas of farming community, agricultural policy and food...

In this paper the newly established rules for trading milk quotas in Germany are analyzed. These regulations have been in force since April 2000. Following a brief historical review of the quota system, the major changes in economic incentives regarding trading milk and the expected welfare...

In light of international discussions on a possible opt-in of the agricultural sector to the current European emission trading system for greenhouse gases, the objective of this article is to present a feasible implementation strategy for a market of emission permits in European agriculture and...

Both WTO and the EU use a “Rule of additional costs†(RAC) to restrict payments for ecological services in agriculture in order to prevent trade distortions. We assess this rule in the light of modern economic theory. It is shown that the RAC is efficient, if conventional agriculture...

The introduction of the current Common European Agricultural Policy in ten new member states in central and eastern Europe will be a major financial challenge for the European Union. On the basis of the partial equilibrium model ESIM this article analyses potential consequences of different...

Agri-environmental programs offering uniform payments to farmers achieved only low participation ratios in some regions whereas, in other regions, windfall profits arose. Auctions leading to individual payments equal to farmers’ bids could solve this problem. Simulations showing...

A number of economic models have been applied to analyse the Common Agricultural Policy. The partial equilibrium models CAPRI, ESIM, AGLINK, AGMEMOD and CAPSIM and the general equilibrium models GLOBE and GTAP are currently integrated in a modelling platform for Agro-Economic Policy Analysis in...