In March 2019 the UK government published details of the import tariffs it planned to apply in the event of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit from the EU. Some 88 per cent of the UK's imports – including many agri-food products – would enter tariff-free.

Evaluation of the French Less Favoured Area (LFA) agricultural programme over the period 2007–2013 calls into question the cost-efficiency of this multi-objective programme. This article confirms the multiplicity of objectives assigned to this programme, namely to maintain a sustainable agriculture in mountainous areas through income support for farmers in these disadvantaged areas; and thus more indirectly, to enhance the attractiveness of these agricultural areas.

European rural landscapes are in transition due to macro changes in climate, agriculture and public policy, combined with various forms of urbanisation. These changes are affecting the resource basis of agriculture, the socio-cultural identity of rural communities, and are challenging the policy regimes affecting European landscapes.

To reach the goal of keeping global temperature rise below 2°C this century while maintaining economic growth, countries will need to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) per unit of output (emission intensity) in all sectors of the economy. For the agricultural sector, however, lowering emissions has to be accompanied by output expansion to meet increasing food demand from a growing and wealthier global population.

The milk quota abolition in 2015 set in motion major adjustments in the EU dairy sector and considerable differences in expansion and contraction of milk production are observed across Member States. Despite significant differences in production methods, Ireland and the Netherlands are among the EU countries that achieved the largest dairy production growth rates.

Family farming is the main model of European agriculture and is a means to promote rural development, agricultural sustainability and safeguarding of cultural heritage. Nevertheless, changes in modern societies and commodity markets lead to disruptions in the traditional family farming model and increasingly challenge its preservation.

Dutch horticultural firms have expanded rapidly in recent decades, both in terms of their production area as well as in number of employees. In particular in the production of fresh fruits and vegetables, a number of very large horticultural firms emerged with often more than 100 employees, operating on tens of hectares of greenhouses.