| Abstract: |
This thesis concentrates on the sugar policies of the European Union (EU). Its objective is to analyse the development which has lead to the current configuration of the sugar regime of the EU and to examine its consequences on different stakeholders both in the past and in the nearest future. First, general information on sugar as an agricultural commodity is provided and the development of the international trade in sugar in the last seven centuries is described. Second, the origins, objectives and instruments of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU and the Common Market Organisation in sugar, together with its latest reform, are dealt with. Fourth, the consequences of the EU sugar regime before the process of its modification began in 2006 are examined for three groups of stakeholders: the EU, the countries having preferential arrangements for exports of sugar to the EU and the countries operating mainly on the world sugar market. Then the consequences of the 2006 reform and the subsequent changes of the EU sugar regime, as well as those of its potential full liberalisation, are analysed. Finally, also the biofuels made from sugarcane are discussed.
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