The european green deal impact on the competitiveness of the agricultural sector in Portugal

Abstract

This dissertation is a pedagogical case study focused on the impacts that the European Green Deal will have at EU level in its primary sector, namely, in Portugal. A variety of concepts such as sustainability, competitiveness and internationalization will be studied and applied to the following hypothesis: how can the Portuguese primary sector companies, in light of the increased cost structure, remain competitive? The objective of this thesis is to understand, first, at a microeconomic level, the different factors that will have an impact on the cost structure of the farmers, like the higher costs which flow from the investments needed in new technologies. Secondly, at a macroeconomic level, an overview over the current exports and imports and its forecast will be discussed. It was concluded that the farmers will face some challenges and in order to ensure the success of the European Green Deal, the latter must be addressed by different entities. There will be an increase in costs in the short term which will need to be funded with the respective funding options available, for instance, the CAP and the Horizon Europe. In the long term, it is of extreme importance that the consumer’s mindset adapts to more sustainable diets. Further, so that the internationalization of European products thrives, there needs to be a clearer regulation so that the farmers are aware of which products they can export or import to regions which are not in scope of these regulations.

Date of Award	1 Jul 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ricardo Reis (Supervisor)