Background to the EU olive-oil regime

The EU system of support for olive oil is based on production aid of € 1,322.5 per tonne, with private storage being used as an instrument of market management. Production is limited through national guaranteed quantities totalling 1.78 million tonnes. There is a growing emphasis on quality production. The budget for the olive oil sector in 2001 was € 2,524 million, with € 1,030 going to Spain, € 848 million going to Italy, € 587 million going to Greece, € 54 million going to Portugal and € 5 million going to France. Some 4% of the utilisable agricultural area of the EU is under olives, involving some 2.5 million producers, roughly a third of EU farmers. It also provides winter employment and considerable off farm employment in the processing industry. The EU dominates world olive production, with output having risen steadily in the 1990s. Demand for olive oil is growing at 6% per annum in the light of the product's positive health image, and EU exports have doubled in the last ten years.The EU system of support for olive oil is based on production aid ..