Challenges of globalisation for agriculture: position of the European Union

The article discusses a series of challenges for agriculture in the context of globalisation. First, there comes a presentation of the globalisation concept especially emphasizing, that rapid increase in cross-border economic, social, technological exchange is facilitated, enforced and implemented by national governments both individually and through global institutions such as World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization. These organisations by implementing neoliberal policy, which core elements are de-regulation, privatization and liberalization, at the same time make a lot of pressure on the agriculture and the rural world. EU position on globalisation and agrifood market liberalisation is set in the Lisbon strategy and supporting EU documents as well as in constantly reformed Common Agricultural Policy and is defended in the WTO negotiations on agricultural issues. EU politicians, recognising new opportunities and possible risks and threats of globalization as well as assessing diversity of European agriculture and rural areas and the importance of agriculture economic, social and ecological functions for the whole society, implement evolutionary accommodation to more globally and market-oriented agricultural policy. To put it other way around, EU seeks to govern globalisation according to interests of regional and local specifics. Main thesis of the article states that because globalisation is an objective and inevitable phenomenon of contemporary life and imperative requirement of scientific and technical progress, so on the one hand, there is a need of liberalisation of agri-food markets in order that increase the efficiency of agro-enterprises. On the other hand, having in mind that European agriculture is very diverse, so “one size fits all” policies, which are often proposed and promoted by international economic institutions, should not be appliedVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij