Background to the EU olive-oil regime
20 May 2004
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.