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EU agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan says last year the bloc had a 25bn euro trading surplus with the UK in agricultural products alone. That's higher than its entire surplus for trade in all products with the rest of the world, which was 21bn.
2 ways of looking at this. Yes it does show huge importance of UK as market for EU goods. But that dependence runs in other direction too. And it demonstrates how commerce with the rest of the world is still a drop in the ocean compared to trade with nearest neighbours in Europe.
EU official: 'UK is hugely reliant on imports from EU & for particular products eg fruits & veg. There's no alternative ready source so there's an interest in ensuring this trade can continue.' Eg Spain exports 3bn a yr fruit & veg. 90% of UK mushrooms come from Ireland & Poland.
Bit more info to clarify these figures: The 25bn euro surplus is for agri-food trade between EU27 & UK last year & is out of 41bn in agri-food trade between the 2 overall. The 21bn surplus is for trade in agri-food products between EU28, including UK, and the rest of the world.
