Do policy measures impact the position and performance of farmers' cooperatives in the EU?

The European Commission wants to create a favourable policy environment for supporting the establishment and development of farmers’ cooperatives and other producer organizations. This paper – for the first time – presents the results of an effectiveness measurement of the existing support measures for farmers’ cooperatives throughout the EU (in eight agricultural sectors). More in particular, it is investigated whether the cooperatives market share is positively or negatively influenced by policy measures. The study identifies general trends, strengths, and weaknesses among the policy measures applied in the EU and the cooperatives’ performance