Editing Common Agricultural Policy (section)

====Sugar regime reform (2005–2006)====
{{Main|Common Market Organization for Sugar}}
One of the crops subsidized by the CAP was sugar produced from [[sugar beet]]; the EU was by far the largest sugar beet producer in the world, with annual production at 17&nbsp;million [[metric ton]]s in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/sugar/doc/factsheet-end-sugar-quota_en.pdf|title=Factsheet: The end of EU sugar production quotas|date=2018|website=The European Commission}}</ref> That compared to levels produced by Brazil and India, the two largest producers of sugar from [[sugar cane]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/eval/reports/sugar/summ_en.pdf |title=Evaluation CMO sugar |publisher=Europa.eu.int |date=23 February 2009 |access-date=23 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209193030/http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/eval/reports/sugar/summ_en.pdf |archive-date=9 February 2006}}</ref>

Sugar was to be  included in the 1992 MacSherry reform or in the 1999 [[Agenda 2000]] decisions; sugar was also subject to a phase in (to 2009) under the [[Everything But Arms]] trade deal giving tariff- and quota-free market access to [[least developed countries]]. As of 21 February 2006, the EU decided to reduce the guaranteed price of sugar by 36% over four years, starting in 2006. European production was projected to fall sharply. According to the EU, this was the first serious reform of sugar under the CAP for 40 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/194&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en |title= EU sugar reforms announcement | publisher=EU press release|access-date=1 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/capreform/sugar/index_en.htm |title=Agriculture and Rural Development – CAP reform: Sugar |publisher=European Commission |access-date=23 April 2011}}</ref> Under the Sugar Protocol to the [[Lome Convention]], nineteen [[ACP countries]] export sugar to the EU<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acpsugar.org |title=African, Caribbean and Pacific Sugar Group |work=ACPsugar.org |access-date=23 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704205503/http://www.acpsugar.org/ |archive-date=4 July 2010 }}</ref> and would be affected by price reductions on the EU market.

These proposals followed the WTO [[Appellate Body]], largely upholding on 28 April 2005 the initial decision against the EU sugar regime.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://agritrade.cta.int/news0506.htm#sugar |title=Sugar reform |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312183704/http://agritrade.cta.int/news0506.htm#sugar |archive-date=12 March 2007}}</ref>

The EU abolished sugar quotas in September 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-sugar-idUSKCN1HA1K5|title=EU sugar companies struggle to survive as prices plunge post-quotas|last=Hunt|first=Nigel|date=3 April 2018|work=Reuters|access-date=22 April 2019|language=en}}</ref>