The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) promotes economic policy cooperation (including statistical analyses, forecasts and strategy development) among its current 38 member states in Europe, North and South America and the Asia-Pacific region; it also works with a number of partner countries. The OECD deals with a wide range of policy areas closely related to economic development. The analyses are discussed in numerous committees with representatives of the member states, and recommendations are ultimately derived. In the agricultural sector, the main bodies involved are the Committee for Agricultural Organisation (COAG) as the overarching body, the Working Party on Agricultural Policies and Markets, the Joint Working Party on Agriculture and Trade, and the Joint Working Party on Agriculture and Environment.
Depending on the subject area, the BAB supports the BMLUK's specialist department as Austria's representative in various expert committees (e.g. Working Party on Agricultural Policies and Markets) or acts as Austria's representative in these working groups itself (Working Party on Joint Working Party on Agriculture and the Environment, Working Party on Rural Policy, Working Party on Territorial Indicators). Within the framework of the OECD's ministerial trade mandate, the working group - Joint Working Party on Agriculture and the Environment, Working Party on Rural Policy (WPRUR), Working Party on Territorial Indicators (WPTI)). Within the framework of the OECD's ministerial trade mandate, the APM working group calculates the impact of policy measures in the agriculture and food sector on producers, consumers, taxpayers and the environment.
Objective
The aim of the project is on the one hand
- the preparation and provision of specific data (e.g. public payments, regional statistics) in accordance with OECD and WTO requirements and, on the other hand
- to support the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management (BML) in the relevant OECD working groups in the form of expert opinions and statements, to represent Austria in certain working groups and to support the exchange of knowledge between the BML and the OECD.
Status of the project
In 2025, data on public payments and regional statistics for the OECD Regional Database were prepared and transmitted to the OECD and the European Commission (WTO data). In addition, depending on the working group, working papers were reviewed and statements were drafted (e.g. Monitoring & Evaluation Report), expert reports were prepared in consultation with the BMLUK, coordinated and presented as contributions to the discussion at the working group meetings. A central part of the work in 2025 was participation in various OECD events (e.g. webinars of the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities).
The JWPAE delegates supported the OECD in updating the OECD database on policy instruments and measures to mitigate climate change in the AFOLU sectors. During the 58th session of the JWPAE, one agenda item was devoted to organic farming (Item 13. ‘Special Session: Examining evidence on the environmental impacts of organic agriculture’) and the JWPAE delegates were involved in organising the Austrian contribution (through FiBL Austria). In addition, the JWPAE delegates took part in events organised by the OECD and its networks (e.g. the series of events on measuring greenhouse gases on farms).
Martin Schönhart was nominated as an expert for the OECD's Expert Group on Methods and Tools for Farm-Level GHG Measurement.
From 19 to 20 May 2025, the 5th ministerial meeting of the Regional Development Policy Committees took place in Warsaw, Poland, where ministers and high-ranking representatives of OECD countries met to discuss strategies for strengthening resilience, cohesion and well-being at regional level. The background paper ‘Strengthening Regional Policy for Resilient Places’ compiled the background information for the discussion, which was based on key papers from the WPRUR working group. The central role of place-based regional development policy was emphasised.
In 2025, the WPTI coordinated the annual collection of Austrian data for the OECD Regional Database, which is visualised and analysed in the publication ‘OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance 2024’ and the newly published ‘OECD Local Data Portal’, among others. Technical national comments were prepared and submitted to the OECD on the draft of the biennial publication ‘OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance’.
Work 2026
Working Party on Agricultural Policies and Markets (WPAPM):
The producer support measure (PSE) used by the OECD is an indicator of the annual monetary value of gross transfer payments to agricultural producers measured at the producer level (agricultural support measure). The measure is based on a consensus among OECD member countries and is calculated at regular intervals at member country level. To this end, the OECD will also require data from member countries in 2026. The BA for Agricultural Economics and Mountain Farming supports the BMLUK in this task by updating and processing the federal and state subsidy data for 2025, allocating it according to the respective classifications and transmitting it to the BMLUK. Furthermore, the BA will again provide a descriptive overview of the most important agricultural policy developments in 2025. Both the data submitted and the description form the basis for the preparation of the OECD's annual ‘Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Report’. In addition, cooperation takes place within the framework of the WPAPM. To this end, working documents are forwarded to the Federal Institute for review and comment as required by the BMLUK's specialist department. Occasionally, it will also be necessary to participate in working group meetings or collaborate on OECD studies on specific topics. Depending on its needs, the BMLUK also obtains comments and expert opinions from the BAB on WTO-related topics.
Joint Working Party on Agriculture and the Environment (JWPAE):
In 2026, BAB delegates will participate in the working group meetings (two annual meetings are planned, with additional ad hoc meetings as needed). Depending on the planned agenda of the meetings and the available documents, separate statements will be drafted or statements will be coordinated with the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Food (BMLUK) and forwarded to the OECD. The minutes drafted by the BAB delegates following the meetings will be forwarded to the BMLUK and the BMEIA (Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs). In addition, there will be opportunities to exchange ideas within other OECD networks and to participate in OECD seminars and workshops.
Working Party on Rural Policy (WPRUR) and Working Party on Territorial Indicators (WPTI):
The WPRUR and WPTI working groups are held within the framework of the Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC) and will continue to pursue the goal of supporting the discussion and implementation of integrated and place-based policy measures in rural regions in 2026. The WPRUR working group focuses on strengthening policy measures for the development of rural regions, particularly in the area of improving living conditions in rural regions, the role of social innovation and the definition of functional regions, with the aim of improving the quality of life/well-being in rural regions. The WPTI working group carries out statistical work to measure comprehensive regional indicators and supports policy analysis and evaluation through subnational statistics. Participation in and collaboration with the two regular working group meetings is planned for 2026. Tasks include, among other things, forwarding reports from the OECD working groups to national officials, in particular to the Austrian delegates of the RDCP, and reporting data at a differentiated spatial level for the OECD Regional Database. The BAB coordinates the annual collection and updating of regional indicators and transmits them to the OECD, where they are used in analyses and visualisations (e.g. Atlas of Regions and Cities, Regional Outlook, Local Data Portal).
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