Chapter 17 - Agricultural policies and sustainable agriculture in EU countries

Abstract

Agriculture occupies an important position at the heart of society, the environment, and the economy of the European Union. Agricultural activity is supported by good environmental conditions, which allow farmers to exploit natural resources, create their products, and earn a living. In turn, the income generated by agriculture supports agricultural families and rural communities, while the food produced by agriculture supports society as a whole. To ensure the long-term sustainability of agriculture, the European Union has put the sustainability of natural resources at the center of its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) program. This study aims to evaluate the impact of European Union policies on sustainable agriculture through a two-step analysis. First, we propose an Index of Sustainable Agriculture on the EU-28 member countries over the period 2007–18 by using the Wroclaw Taxonomic Method on a set of 16 variables. Second, we employ β-convergence analysis to assess whether CAPs have favored the growth of agricultural sustainability in European countries and whether there has been a process of convergence in terms of agricultural sustainability among the European countries. The policy recommendations are developed.