Were the fears expressed by European fruit and vegetable growers regarding the latest round of expansion of the EU justified? Only in some respects, according to Dr Wilhelm Ellinger of the Central Market and Price Reporting Office (ZMP) in Bonn.
The ZMP has examined foreign trade between the “old” EU and the new member states (NMS), focusing on the 12 months preceding and following the integration of the 10 NMS. This revealed that foreign trade in general, in both directions, did not develop as vigorously as had been anticipated, with major discrepancies between individual product groups.
In those areas where the NMS enjoy production advantages they were able to expand their cultivation significantly, by 50 per cent in the case of apples, and 100 per cent for cherries. EU imports of apples from the NMS have more than trebled, but the amounts of all the other kinds of fruit imported only increased marginally or even declined (watermelons, plums).
Among the EU 15 suppliers, those from the Mediterranean area in particular benefited from the expansion of the EU and were able to substantially increase exports to the NMS of citrus fruits, peaches, kiwis, bananas and water melons. Whereas the fruit grown in the EU 15 is largely sold on the fresh produce market, in the NMS it is still mainly intended for processing.
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