Influence Of Common Agricultural Policy Research Articles

Factors determining the competitiveness of grain production and opportunities for their digital optimization

Abstract. Grain production is one of the traditional agricultural sub-sectors in Bulgaria, which has been identified for its comparative advantages. The significant levels of social support provided for these businesses after the accession of Bulgaria to the EU and under the influence of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have incited considerable investments in their innovative technological development. Given the significant economic role of this sector in the sectoral development determines the need for studying their competitiveness and analysis of the factors that determine it. The present study investigated the level of competitiveness of Bulgarian grain production during the period 2014-2020 and its determining factors by using the Relative Trade Advantage index in order to identify opportunities for digital optimization. The results showed that Bulgarian grain production is a competitive sector but at the end of the studied period the competitiveness of barley and maize is increasing while the wheat competitiveness is decreasing. Finally, some digital possibilities for increasing the technical efficiency of Bulgarian grain production were revealed.

Contribution of the Common Agricultural Policy to agricultural productivity of EU regions during 2004–2012 period

The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies on agricultural (labour and total factor) productivity growth of EU regions during the period 2004–2012. The objective is to assess the impact of this policy on agricultural growth and competitiveness of regions, first in the aftermath of the fundamental reforms of the decoupling policy and second during the historic eastward enlargement of the EU, which deepened asymmetric spatial patterns and may have led to the CAP having a different spatial impact. The analysis uses an econometric approach based on an augmented Cobb-Douglas production function. The impact is proved to be mixed; positive when the change of subsidies with a 1-year lag is considered, which is related to farm strategies, and negative when the level of subsidies, which is based on reference data, is considered. In the case of the new member states, the effect is negative, confirming the CAP’s incompatibility with the agricultural structures of the area.

Agricultural abandonment in mountain areas of Europe: Environmental consequences and policy response

Agricultural abandonment reflects a post war trend in western Europe of rural depopulation to which isolated and poorer areas are most vulnerable. The commercialisation of agriculture, through technological developments, and the influence of Common Agricultural Policy have increased productivity and focused agricultural activity on more fertile and accessible land thus transforming traditional approaches to farming. In many areas this has lead to a decline in traditional labour intensive practices and marginal agricultural land is being abandoned. The problems that these trends create are particularly marked in mountain areas. The social and economic impacts of these changes have been well documented. However, the implications for environmental policy are less well recognised. This paper reviews the literature on abandonment and gives a comparative analysis of European mountain case studies to assess the environmental impacts of land abandonment and decline in traditional farming practices. It finds abandonment is widespread and that, while the influence of environmental changes is unpredictable due to environmental, agricultural and socio-economic contextual factors, abandonment generally has an undesirable effect on the environmental parameters examined. The application of agri-environment policy measures in relation to abandonment is discussed and suggestions for future policy are proposed.