Implementation Of Common Agricultural Policy Research Articles

Structural Adaptation Triggers in the CAP: Regional Implementation 2007–2013 in the East Midlands, England

This case study explores how policy structures support agricultural adaptation. Using the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms of 2007–2013, this case study analyses regional implementation in the East Midlands, England. We investigate how the structures of CAP implementation and supporting regional policies might enhance adaptive capacity and resilience building. Methods include a review of the policy, qualitative analysis of policy structures as well as linguistic analysis of policy documents. The case study is an exercise of looking back to look forward—an approach to understand the preconditions for today’s decision-making structures, which have changed tremendously due to Brexit as well as new climate agreements and policies. It provides insights into the starting point of climate adaptation structures for agricultural adaptation decisions that are relevant in the gradual layering of climate change concerns into agricultural reforms after the 2007–2013 reforms of CAP. The article provides insight into (a) what kind of regulatory aspects promote adaptation the agricultural sector (b) if the implementation of the agricultural policy is characterized by adaptive governance as defined in the social-ecological systems and resilience literature. It further examines to what extent such governance arrangements can (c) result in adaptive capacity structures and, finally (d) lead to assumptions on resilience promotion.

FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EU RURAL AREAS: TOWARDS THE NEW PRIORITIES

Economic activity stimulation in rural areas is among the major spatial development directions in the EU countries. In its context, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is implemented at the supranational level. Its goals receive substantial financial resources both from the EU budget and national budgets. The paper aims to research the mechanism of the EU CAP development and implementation and its impact on rural economic development and agriculture, and outline advantages and problems to be addressed in the context of the policy implementation. The mechanism of the EU CAP development and implementation is examined, economic development stimulation in rural areas is analyzed across the CAP pillars, and directions of financial support to farmers, agriculture as a whole, and rural areas are emphasized. The analysis of the EU CAP has revealed that public policy should be based on a dual approach to rural areas – in the first place, as national wealth and source of historical-cultural identity of a state, and in the second place, as a driving force on the way to transition to the care economy and environmentally oriented entrepreneurship.

How can the European Common Agricultural Policy help halt biodiversity loss? Recommendations by over 300 experts

AbstractThe European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has not halted farmland biodiversity loss. The CAP post‐2023 has a new ‘‘Green Architecture,’’ including the new ‘‘Eco‐scheme’’ instrument. How can this new Green Architecture help tackle the biodiversity crisis? Through 13 workshops and an online survey, over 300 experts from 23 European Member States addressed this question.From experts’ contributions, key principles for success include preserving and restoring (semi)natural elements and extensive grasslands; improving spatial planning and landscape‐scale implementation, including through collective actions; implementing result‐based approaches; and improved knowledge exchange. To maximize the effectiveness of Eco‐scheme for biodiversity, experts highlighted the need to prioritize evidence‐based actions, allocate a sufficient budget for biodiversity, and incentivize management improvements through higher payment levels. Additionally, stronger coherence is needed among CAP instruments.For effective CAP implementation, the European Commission and the Member States should expand investments in biodiversity monitoring, knowledge transfer, and capacity‐building within relevant institutions. The remaining risks in the CAP's ability to reverse the loss of farmland biodiversity still require better design, closer monitoring, greater transparency, and better engagement with farmers. Additionally, greater involvement of scientists is needed to guide the CAP toward restoring farmland biodiversity while accounting for synergies and trade‐offs with other objectives.

CAP and Advisory Services: From Farm Advisory Systems to Innovation Support

SummaryFarm advisory services have become an important topic in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU). The aim of this article is to draw lessons from the implementation of the regulation and measures of the current 2014–2022 CAP in knowledge transfer and advisory services to contribute to debates about the future of farm advisory policies. Findings are based on two studies commissioned by the European Commission: an evaluation study implemented by a consortium of consultancies and researchers and a comparative analysis implemented in the frame of the H2020 research project AgriLink. The article first provides a historical perspective of the ‘knowledge and advice’ dimension of the CAP since 2007. We show a gradual transition towards greater flexibility of measures supporting innovation and knowledge flows. The professional status of farm advisors across European countries was more strongly acknowledged, offering new life‐long training opportunities to advisors. However, the implementation of CAP’s advisory measures remains complex. As a result, the effects of these measures have been rather limited, with only few farmers reached overall. Fostering an inclusiveness of these measures remains an ongoing challenge for policymakers.

Would Renationalisation and Co-financing of the Common Agricultural Policy Be Justified?

During the past decades several attempts have been made to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The article analyses the possible new directions of CAP implementation and financing of the CAP. It discusses whether renationalisation and co-financing of the CAP would be a beneficial approach to make the policy more efficient and to help restructuring not just the CAP expenditure but the whole EU budget. The author analyses the changes in light of the new regulatory frameworks to be implemented from 2023.

An Analysis of the First Pillar of the CAP by Evaluating its Selected Indicators and Measuring its Impact on the Performance of Slovenian Agriculture over the Period 2014-2020

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has existed at the European Union level since 1962. Over the years, it has undergone various transformations, reforms and adjustments. By measuring the performance of the CAP implementation, the European Union has introduced a model for evaluating individual CAP measures by promoting a system of different indicators which are, through various methods of data and information collection, mostly published annually, while their achieved values are reported to the public. Based on the evaluation of these data, it can be assessed how successfully the CAP influences individual agricultural industries within each country or region. Through its Resolution on the Strategic Guidelines for the Development of Slovenian Agriculture and Food Industry until 2020, Slovenia set its strategic objectives and its own tailored system of indicators for evaluation. Through the analysis of the First Pillar of the CAP, we want to assess the impact of the CAP on Slovenian agriculture in the 2014–2020 period based on the selected indicators, namely organic farming, indicators for the wine sector and two indicators of self-sufficiency assessment for the selected agricultural product – meat. The analysis of the results achieved may be used by decision makers as a basis for assessing the performance CAP measures and input information in the further development of appropriate CAP measures in the future. Obviously, the results are also accessible to the general public, with the possibility to assess the performance of CAP financial assets invested in individual targeted CAP measures and their achievements.

Assessment of semi-natural habitats and landscape features on Irish farmland: New insights to inform EU Common Agricultural Policy implementation.

Concerns over the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in farmland have prompted the development of agri-environment policy measures aimed at reducing farming pressure and maintaining semi-natural habitats in farmed landscapes. However, further knowledge is needed to guarantee successful agri-environment measures implementation. The current study assessed the quantity and the quality of semi-natural habitats in farms across a gradient of farming intensities in two contrasting regions in Ireland. Policy protection seemed fundamental for semi-natural habitats preservation. Habitats not protected by agricultural policy relied on extensive farming and are in danger of disappearing if they are intensified or abandoned. Due to the lack of policy incentives for habitat quality, no correlations were found between farming intensity and share of semi-natural habitats with habitat quality. Therefore, extensive farming and retention of habitats alone may not reverse the decline of farmland quality and biodiverisity and, thus, measures incentivising the environmental quality may be more successful.

New CAP Delivery Model, Old Issues

The proposed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2021–2027 will be more flexible and, presumably, more effective. To provide for sufficient ambition and prevent a race to the bottom, national strategic plans will be introduced with quantitative targets covering both policy pillars. This article argues that since formal requirements and the evaluation model are weak on actual long-term impact, substantial improvements are unlikely. To test this, programming rules are experimentally evaluated on the implementation of CAP 2014–2020 in Slovenia. The experiment shows that while measures and resources broadly correspond to policy objectives, the specific relevance of measures is generally weak and has potential effects dispersed among several objectives, resulting in high costs for individual objectives at best. Without the effective inclusion of an impact assessment, the outcome will rely on the capacity and benevolence of national governance systems.

Caught in a Deadlock: Small Ruminant Farming on the Greek Island of Samothrace. The Importance of Regional Contexts for Effective EU Agricultural Policies

Sedentary extensive small ruminant farming systems are highly important for the preservation of High Nature Value (HNV) farmland. Both the abandonment of grazing and overgrazing have led to environmental degradation in many Mediterranean regions. On the Greek island of Samothrace, decades of overgrazing by sheep and goats has caused severe degradation of local ecosystems. The present study highlights the importance of regional contexts for national and EU agricultural policies in regard to sustainable development of sedentary extensive livestock systems. By utilizing the conceptual framework of socio-ecological systems research, we analyze the interdependencies of environmental, economic and social factors on a local island level. Results show that between 1929 and 2016, the livestock and land-use system of Samothrace transformed from a diverse system towards a simplified system, solely used for small ruminant production. Total livestock units increased from 2200 in 1929 to 7850 in 2002, declining to 5100 thereafter. The metabolic analysis conducted for the years 1993–2016 shows that 80–90% of the feed demand of small ruminants was covered by grazing, exceeding available grazing resources for at least a decade. The regional implementation of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) continues to support excessively high animal numbers, while farmers are highly dependent on subsidies and find themselves in an economic deadlock.

Effectiveness of Common Agricultural Policy Implementation in Slovakia – European Project Implemeted by the Association of Agrarian and Environmental Lawyers

Abstract The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the oldest EU policy and is one of the supranational areas and policies of the European Union (EU). CAP introduced diverse legal and economic tools for comprehensive and smart restructuralisation of the Slovak agriculture and rural areas. With the purpose to improve the CAP implementation in Slovakia, the project “Effectiveness of Common Agricultural Policy implementation in Slovakia” (CAPE) was prepared and submitted by the Association of Agrarian and Environmental Lawyers. The project was approved by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency and it has been granted from September 2019 (Decision Nr. 2019–1802/001.001, Project Nr. 611792–EPP–1–2019–1–SK–EPPJMO–SUPPA). The idea to submit project proposal aroused from the need to contribute to improving the Common Agricultural Policy implementation in Slovakia. The main aim of the project is to perform the interdisciplinary research in the field of the effectiveness of CAP implementation in Slovakia with the specific objectives to discuss and advise local, regional, national policymakers and decision–makers on different aspects of the CAP implementation, transfer the research results and the expertise to the practice and to disseminate the project outcomes among interested target groups and civil society.

The New Common Agricultural Policy: Ηow do Member States Respond to Flexibility?

AbstractThe Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a core policy of the European Union (EU), representing 40 per cent of the EU budget and a cornerstone of the integration process. Due to the path dependency that defined its evolution, it had always been a rather homogeneous and centralized policy. For the first time, the 2014–20 reform endowed Member States with the possibility to tailor the direct payments of the CAP along different fields of flexibility and thereby better address their national needs. This article examines these national choices in terms of the discontinuity they impose on the centralized policy model, showing that they reduced the policy inertia associated to the historical processes in place at the EU level, along a new national path dependency re‐shaping the CAP implementation. The flexibility introduced by the 2014–20 reform was particularly embraced by Member States that had been penalized by the ‘one‐size‐fits‐all’ historical archetype.

Governance, Economic, Social and Environmental Sustainability of Farming Enterprises of Different Juridical Type in Bulgaria

The issue of assessment of absolute and comparative sustainability of major farming structures is among the most topical for researchers, farmers, investors, administrators, politicians, interests groups and public at large. Despite that practically there are no assessments on sustainability level of Bulgarian farms of different juridical type in conditions of European Union Common Agricultural Policy implementation. This article applies a holistic framework and assesses absolute and comparative sustainability of Bulgarian farming enterprises of different juridical type. Initially the method of the study is outlined, and overall characteristics of surveyed holdings presented. After that an assessment is made of integral, governance, economic, social, environmental sustainability of farming structures of different juridical type. Next, structure of farms with different sustainability levels is analyzed. Finally, conclusion from the study and directions for further research and amelioration of sustainability assessments suggested.

Sustainability of Governing Structures in Bulgarian Farming Industry

The issue of assessment of absolute and comparative sustainability of major governing structures in agrarian and farming industries is among the most topical issues for researchers, farmers, investors, administrators, politicians, interests groups, and the public worldwide. Despite this issue, practically there are no assessments on the sustainability level of the major types of Bulgarian farming enterprises in the conditions of European Union Common Agricultural Policy implementation. This study applies a holistic framework and assesses the absolute and comparative sustainability of major governing structures in Bulgarian farming industry�unregistered holdings, sole traders, cooperatives, and companies of various types. In this paper, the method of the study is outlined, the inclusion of a novel “governance aspect” of sustainability is justified, and the overall characteristics of the surveyed farming enterprises are presented. Then, the integral, governance, economic, social, and environmental sustainability of the farming structures of different juridical types is assessed. Next, the structure of farming enterprises with different sustainability levels is analyzed. Finally, the conclusion from this study and the directions for further research and amelioration of sustainability assessments are presented.

English

Milk in terms of production value has the second biggest share in Croatian agricultural sector in 2013 (CBS, 2014). It could be speculated that after the abolition of quotas in the European Union, the declining trend in domestic production will continue and that exposure to free European market will significantly affect the competitiveness of domestic production. The aim of this paper is to analyse the prospects of Croatian dairy industry (sector) under certain conditions of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and to present projections simulated with the help of partial equilibrium model AGMEMOD. The main model inputs are policy and macroeconomic variables, supply-use balances of agro-food products and producer prices. The Baseline projections has shown that in 2025 in line with the CAP implementation there might be a decrease of dairy cows number by 33 %, the raw milk price by 14 % and the collected cow’s milk amount by 13 % compared to the five-year average of 2008-2012. The positive effect was noted in productivity, according to the simulation, with an increase by 25 %, which consequently may lead to increased deliveries to dairies for about 17 %. Therefore preliminary results show that accounting for milk processing the dairy sector in Croatia might obtain a favourable situation by 2025. Taking into account the EU market situation, there is an opportunity to increase milk processing given the current level of prices in the EU market and global markets, and taking into account the abolition of milk quotas. Also, the results suggest, according to the experience of other states, that the utilization of funds of 1 st and 2 nd pillar of the CAP (utilization measures across projects) in order to improve the production structure and efficiency will play an important role.

Income Optimization of Energy Crops in Greece under Different CAP Scenarios

Abstract The present paper employs linear programming for the optimization of agricultural income generated by energy crops for the prefecture of Evros. To be more specific, we optimize agricultural income from soybean, the sunflower (proxy for energy crop), corn under different scenarios having as restrictions the value of the subsidies as a proxy for EU policy the value of inputs (costs of capital and labour) and under the irrigation conditions. Three different scenarios will be taken into consideration regarding the implementation of Common Agricultural Policy. The results of different scenarios under which the Common agricultural policy is implemented will provide us with an insight on the identification of energy crops for which the agricultural income is a potential significant motive to the farmers for their adoption related not only to other energy crops but also conventional crops. According to our findings higher income is acquired by the cultivation of the sun flower compared to that of rapeseed in non-irrigated areas while in irrigated areas highest income comes from the crop of corn compared to the crop of sunflower and rapeseed. The practical value of the present work stands on the formation of a structure of different energy crops that secure income maximization, while if we take into consideration crops with limited needs in non- cultivated areas with less fertile soils might also contribute to the formation of rural development

Automatic identification of agricultural terraces through object-oriented analysis of very high resolution DSMs and multispectral imagery obtained from an unmanned aerial vehicle

Agricultural terraces are features that provide a number of ecosystem services. As a result, their maintenance is supported by measures established by the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In the framework of CAP implementation and monitoring, there is a current and future need for the development of robust, repeatable and cost-effective methodologies for the automatic identification and monitoring of these features at farm scale. This is a complex task, particularly when terraces are associated to complex vegetation cover patterns, as happens with permanent crops (e.g. olive trees). In this study we present a novel methodology for automatic and cost-efficient identification of terraces using only imagery from commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) cameras on board unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Using state-of-the-art computer vision techniques, we generated orthoimagery and digital surface models (DSMs) at 11 cm spatial resolution with low user intervention. In a second stage, these data were used to identify terraces using a multi-scale object-oriented classification method. Results show the potential of this method even in highly complex agricultural areas, both regarding DSM reconstruction and image classification. The UAV-derived DSM had a root mean square error (RMSE) lower than 0.5 m when the height of the terraces was assessed against field GPS data. The subsequent automated terrace classification yielded an overall accuracy of 90% based exclusively on spectral and elevation data derived from the UAV imagery.

Competitiveness and comparative advantages in agriculture (livestock approach)

This study compares the effect of Common Agricultural Policy implementation on comparative advantages of livestock production in four selected countries, namely Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (V4). The comparative advantage of Czech Republic’s bovine production as well as Slovakian poultry production has improved. On the contrary, sheep production in Poland and Slovakia has lost its previous positive RSCA value, similarly to swine production in Czech Republic and horse production in Hungary. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of bovine production in V4 countries revealed that the formerly successful quality competition was replaced gradually by price competition during the examined period (1999-2010).

The EU common agricultural policy implementation in Latvia

The EU common agricultural policy implementation in Latvia

Environmental Management in Bulgarian Agriculture

This paper presents a new framework for analysis and improvement of environmental management based on the achievements of the New Institutional and Transaction Costs Economics. Following that new framework we first, identify the major environmental problems and risks in Bulgarian agriculture. Next, we access efficiency of market, private and public modes of environmental management employed in the sector. And finally, we give prospects and major challenges of environmental management in conditions of EU Common Agricultural Policy implementation. Our analysis shows that post-communist transition of Bulgarian agriculture has changed the state of the environment and brought some new challenges such as: degradation and contamination of farmland, pollution of surface and ground waters, loss of biodiversity, significant greenhouse gas emissions etc. Badly defined and enforced environmental rights, prolonged process of privatization of agrarian resources, carrying out farming in structures not motivating in long-term investment, low appropriability of certain environmental rights and high uncertainty and assets specificity of environment related transactions, all these factors have been responsible for failure of market and private modes of environmental management. The strong needs for a public intervention have not been met by an effective government, community, international assistance etc. intervention. Consequently agrarian sustainability has been severely compromised. The assessment of likely impact of EU CAP implementation under “Bulgarian” conditions indicates that the main beneficiary of various new support measures will be the biggest operators. Income, technological and environmental discrepancy between different farms, sub-sectors and regions will be further enhanced. Our analysis has been also supported by field survey data from different type dairy farms from two major milk producing regions of the country. We have found out that a great number of farms have no sufficient capacity for adaptation to new EU requirements for the dairy sector. The bulk of milk producers expect no positive impact of CAP measures on their income, volume and technology of production, investment level, product quality, access to public programs, improvement of environmental care, improvement of animal welfare, development of infrastructure, possibilities for new income generation, and social status of farm households.

Environmental Management in Bulgarian Agriculture : Risks Modes Major Challenges

This paper presents a new framework for analysis and improvement of environmental management based on the achievements of the New Institutional and Transaction Costs Economics. Following that new framework we first, identify the major environmental problems and risks in Bulgarian agriculture. Next, we access efficiency of market, private and public modes of environmental management employed in the sector. And finally, we give prospects and major challenges of environmental management in conditions of EU Common Agricultural Policy implementation. Our analysis shows that post-communist transition of Bulgarian agriculture has changed the state of the environment and brought some new challenges such as: degradation and contamination of farmland, pollution of surface and ground waters, loss of biodiversity, significant greenhouse gas emissions etc. Badly defined and enforced environmental rights, prolonged process of privatization of agrarian resources, carrying out farming in structures not motivating in long-term investment, low appropriability of certain environmental rights and high uncertainty and assets specificity of environment related transactions, all these factors have been responsible for failure of market and private modes of environmental management. The strong needs for a public intervention have not been met by an effective government, community, international assistance etc. intervention. Consequently agrarian sustainability has been severely compromised. The assessment of likely impact of EU CAP implementation under “Bulgarian” conditions indicates that the main beneficiary of various new support measures will be the biggest operators. Income, technological and environmental discrepancy between different farms, sub-sectors and regions will be further enhanced. Our analysis has been also supported by field survey data from different type dairy farms from two major milk producing regions of the country. We have found out that a great number of farms have no sufficient capacity for adaptation to new EU requirements for the dairy sector. The bulk of milk producers expect no positive impact of CAP measures on their income, volume and technology of production, investment level, product quality, access to public programs, improvement of environmental care, improvement of animal welfare, development of infrastructure, possibilities for new income generation, and social status of farm households.