Competitiveness of the EU food industry : ex-post assessmentof trade performance embedded in international economic theory

This study assessed the competitiveness of the EU food industry benchmarked against USA, Australia, Brazil and Canada. This assessment is based on trade indicators (Relative Net trade advantage and export share on the world market) and on economic indicators (value added, labour productivity and share value added in total manufacturing). This study is an update of an earlier study executed in 2007. The overall competitiveness performance of the EU28 (intra-EU trade excluded) remained weak: the three economic indicators weakened and the trade indicators improved in period (2) 2008-2012 compared to period (1) 2003-2007. The position in period 2 was even weaker than the relative weak position in period 1. Brazil remained the strongest and the USA became strong