Localisation et dynamiques de concentration des productions animales en Europe : état des lieux et facteurs explicatifs

This article looks at recent developments (since 2000) of the location of livestock production (milk, beef, pigs and poultry) within the European Union. Using the latest available statistical data at a fine geographical level (NUTS3), an analysis is conducted on the processes of productive specialization and geographical concentration of the territories. The forces that affect these processes are not new and have already been the subject of many works of economists. They mainly concern the comparative advantages, the economies of scale and agglomeration, the quality of industrial and commercial structure. If environmental standards and rural development measures of the Common Agricultural Policy constitute a lever to counteract the strengthening of animal density, their influence is often less than the forces mentioned above. An analysis of the co-location of animal production shows that the denser areas frequently associate dairy cattle, pigs and poultry. The most common binary associations are milk and pork or pork and poultry. Suckler cows tend to be pushed in disadvantaged areas where other livestock are struggling to implement or maintain.