SOME ASPECTS OF LEGAL REGULATION OF TRADE IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

This study is devoted to certain aspects of the general agricultural policy of the EU and considers some peculiarities of the legal regulation of agricultural trade in the European Union. The author examines the legal principles of regulation of the organization of agricultural markets, as well as analyzes the system of intervention prices and threshold prices. The main legal acts regulating agricultural trade in the European Union are the acts of primary EU law - the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Besides that, a solid base of secondary legislation is applied, consisting of regulations and ordinances. The prospects of development of the organization of the agricultural market depend largely on certain economic indicators, such as production and consumption, exports and imports of both raw materials and finished products, the area of cultivated land, etc. At the same time, there are some factors that can significantly affect the legal aspects of agricultural trade in the EU: some of them are the system of mandatory compensations, new environmental standards, the system of subsidies for farmers, etc. Special attention is paid to the result of the agrarian sector reform: the system of lump-sum subsidies for farmers was introduced. The author separately examines the grain market within the EU, its characteristics and legal regulation. The author pays special attention to the price formation process and its legal basis. It is noted that due to the inability to protect the EU grain market from cheaper imported grain, the EU uses the compensation fee as a mechanism to equalize grain prices on the domestic market.