The European Commission has presented to the Council an the European Parliament a report about the agricultural situation in the European Union (COM(2008) 525 final). The report was completed in 2007 and is published in conjunction with the General Report on the Activities of the European Union.

Main findings

• Output from farms in 2006 was less than in 2005. In the crop sector output fell by 4% while in the animal sector it fell by 1%.
• In both crop and animal sectors, farmers received lower prices for their products. On average prices decreased by 2% in real terms.
• The number of farmers continued to decline (2% less in 2006 compared to 2005).
• On average incomes of farmers increased by 3%, although there was considerable variation between Member States, with incomes rising substantially in some and falling significantly in other.
• In 2006, the EU remained an overall net exporter of agricultural products.

Rural development funding

• Regarding the period 2000–2006, there were 68 rural development programmes, 69 Objective 1 regional programmes and 20 Objective 2 regional programmes. The Objective 1 and Objective 2 programmes incorporated a number of rural development measures.
• During the same period, there was a very considerable number of Leader + projects (around 28 000). Many local action groups participated in transnational cooperation.
• In 2006, expenditure on rural development amounted to EUR 9 199.2 million. Of this, the EAGGF Guarantee provided EUR 5,610.2 million (for the rural development programmes and Objective 2 programmes). The EAGGF Guidance provided EUR 3,589 million (for the Objective 1 programmes).
• Concerning the period 1994–1999, 45 programmes were closed. At the end of 2006, 39 programmes remained open (out of 402 as of March 2003).