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It was emphasised in the work whether there are differences in soil productivity of FADM farms from countries belonging to EU-15 and EU-12, and whether CAP subsidies impact the degree of these differences. For this purpose, a comparative analysis was conducted for the soil productivity indicators (taking into account the value of CAP subsidies in the value of production from agricultural activity and without such subsidies) as well as a statistical assessment of differences between those indicators in EU-15 and EU-12 countries based on the Mann-Whitney U test. EU-FADN data was used in the work. The timeframe covered the period of 2007-2013, the spatial scope covered EU-27 countries while the subject scope covered farms representative for particular EU-15 and EU-12 countries. A hypothesis was made that including subsidies from the Common Agricultural Policy in the total production generated from farming causes absence of the significance of differences, in the productivity of soils from EU- 15 and EU-12 countries. As a result of the conducted analyses, it was confirmed that CAP subsidies increase the difference in the scope of soil productivity between farms from EU-15 and EU-12 countries. A bigger level of differences occurred between FADN farms from countries composing EU-15.

Republici Hrvatskoj je članstvom u EU pružen veliki broj mogućnosti, posebice unutar poljoprivrednog sektora. Navedene mogućnosti se prvenstveno ogledaju kroz sredstva predviđena poljoprivrednom politikom EU, odnosno sredstva Europskog fonda za jamstva u poljoprivredi (EFJP-a) te iz Europskog poljoprivrednog fonda za ruralni razvoj (EPFRR-a). Uspješno korištenje navedenih prilika podrazumijeva uvažavanje većeg broja faktora, od kojih ovaj rad posebno istražuje pitanje zaštite nacionalnih fi nancijskih interesa. Rezultati istraživanja razine educiranosti korisnika o korištenju sredstava europskih poljoprivrednih fondova u RH za 2014. i 2015. ukazuju da slabija educiranost potencijalnih korisnika se refl ektirala na manju iskorištenost dostupnih fi nancijskih sredstava u niz promatranih poljoprivrednih mjera, a što zaključno se negativno reflektira na nacionalni financijski interes, By becoming a member of the EU, Republic of Croatia has been provided a large number of opportunities, especially within the agricultural sector. These opportunities are primarily through the funds provided by the EU agricultural policy, the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Efficient and effective use of the above mentioned opportunities implies several factors, of which this paper explores in particular the issue of protection of national financial interests. The results of the survey implemented in Republic of Croatia for 2014 and 2015 indicate that lower level of education of potential beneficiaries has decreased the utilization of available funds in a number of observed agricultural measures, negatively reflecting the national financial interest.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union is the subject of the consecutive reform. The proposal of the CAP after 2020 has been presented in the European Commission’s proposal on 1 June 2018, which defines the proposed forms and scope of the EU agriculture support after 2020. The innovative solutions suggested by the European Commission impose many new obligations on Member States. However, they are associated with significant challenges resulting both from the need to define national strategies as well as obligations to implement policy instruments and measure policy implementation effects. The main objective of this study is to discuss the key implications for Poland resulting from the new delivery model of CAP after 2020 proposed by the EU Commission and to identify the most important “challenges” for policy makers and the entire agricultural sector. In the new perspective of the CAP, no radical changes in the very essence of the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU are foreseen. The basic objectives of the CAP still include supporting agricultural incomes, improving the competitiveness of the EU agriculture or supporting rural development. The main distinguishing feature of the new CAP model, as compared to the existing one, is the fact that individual Member States have a large degree of freedom inshaping national policy in relation to agriculture and rural areas, but they have the obligation to determine measurable effects and selection of instruments, while maintaining the Community nature of the CAP. For Poland, as well as for all Member States, the key challenge is the objective identification of needs of the agriculture and rural areas, and then to select indicators and instruments to effectively achieve the objectives of the CAP. One of the main challenges for Poland is also to include in the strategic plans objectives related to environmental and climate policy, and improvement of the position of farmers in the food supply chain. Another issue that raises the discussion is the policy of supporting agriculture in the form of direct payments and the issue of inequalities in their distribution., DOI: 10.30858/zer/100702

International audience; Agriculture in Europe results in the production of food for both the European population and for the export sector. Significant environmental and social problems have emerged with the intensification of European agriculture. These include the loss of biodiversity, the contamination of soils, water, and food with pesticides, and the eutrophication of water bodies. Industrialized agricultural and food systems are also a major contributing factor in the decline of farm numbers, and the high use of antibiotics has led to serious human health problems. In this respect, agroecology can provide insights into important pathways and guide the design, development, and promotion of the transition towards sustainable farming and food systems. An analysis of the major challenges for the amplification of agroecology in Europe was carried out by 310 stakeholders in a World Cafe exercise and 23 sessions and workshops during the Agroecology Europe Forum 2017. The different challenges that were identified can be grouped into seven categories: (1) definition and concepts; (2) education, training, and knowledge sharing; (3) research approach and funding; (4) policies; (5) productivity and practices; (5) food systems and consumer awareness; and (6) co-optation. To address these challenges, the following key actions are recommended: (1) to develop a common understanding of agroecology; (2) to enhance education in agroecology and knowledge exchange; (3) to invest in agroecological research; (4) to develop policies enhancing agroecology; (5) to support new and existing agroecological practices; (6) to transform food systems; and (7) to strengthen communication and alliances. In this paper we present and discuss these recommendations for pathways and actions to develop sustainable agro-food systems in Europe through agroecology.

The concept of sustainability has been a part of theory and practice in agriculture for a long time, but the diverse roots of the concept have led to a number of different definitions of sustainable agriculture. This paper provides an overview of the policy development of sustainable agriculture in Finland by examining internal and external discourses of sustainability and the evolution in different dimensions of sustainability. We show that the debate on sustainability within European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy and Finnish agri-environmental policy are reflected in attempts to implement and monitor sustainability in agriculture in Finland. However, indicators suggest a largely non-sustainable condition. This has contributed to a shift in policy objectives from sustainable agriculture to sustainable rural development, especially in the EU context. As there are commonly trade-offs between the economic, ecological and social dimensions of sustainable development, future developments in sustainable agriculture will inevitably be characterized by continuous redefinitions of problems, paradigm revisions and reassessments of actions already taken.

The concept of sustainability has been a part of theory and practice in agriculture for a long time, but the diverse roots of the concept have led to a number of different definitions of sustainable agriculture. This paper provides an overview of the policy development of sustainable agriculture in Finland by examining internal and external discourses of sustainability and the evolution in different dimensions of sustainability. We show that the debate on sustainability within European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy and Finnish agri-environmental policy are reflected in attempts to implement and monitor sustainability in agriculture in Finland. However, indicators suggest a largely non-sustainable condition. This has contributed to a shift in policy objectives from sustainable agriculture to sustainable rural development, especially in the EU context. As there are commonly trade-offs between the economic, ecological and social dimensions of sustainable development, future developments in sustainable agriculture will inevitably be characterized by continuous redefinitions of problems, paradigm revisions and reassessments of actions already taken.

National audience; From the vineyards to the streets: The difficulty of mobilizing small wine-growers in Aude Department The European Commission's specialized services are trying to tighten their grip over viticulture by invoking the legitimating figure of a “new consumer”. Accordingly, growers who work small vineyards are unable to make a wine adapted to market trends. They should, therefore, withdraw from wine-growing and enjoy the subsidies granted by the EU for uprooting vineyards. In Aude Department, southern France, small wine-growers take issue with this analysis, which, in their opinion, caves in to the pressure exerted by traders and hypermarket chain stores. However, there have been no protest actions against the Commission's decisions. This can be explained by the way the EU's policy is embedded in national and local conflicts. Although we cannot point to any joint plan, administrations, trade associations and political parties are developing practices that prevent organized protests.; Les services spécialisés de la Commission européenne tentent de renforcer leur emprise sur la filière vitivinicole. Ils s'affirment en recourant à la figure légitimatrice du « nouveau consommateur » : selon leur discours les producteurs qui cultivent des parcelles exiguës ne peuvent produire un vin adapté aux évolutions du marché ; ils doivent se « retirer du secteur » en bénéficiant des subventions à l'arrachage versées par l'Union européenne. Dans le département de l'Aude, les petits viticulteurs contestent cette analyse. Ils y perçoivent une soumission aux pressions du négoce et de la grande distribution. Aucune mobilisation collective contre les choix de la Commission n'est pourtant enregistrée. Cette situation s'explique par un emboîtement de la politique viticole européenne dans des espaces d'affrontement nationaux et locaux : sans qu'un plan concerté puisse être caractérisé, les administrations, les syndicats et les partis politiques développent des pratiques qui empêchent toute protestation organisée.

У статті досліджено механізм формування спільної аграрної політики країнами-членами ЄС. Встановлено, що в країнах ЄС аграрному сектору виділяється значна фінансова допомога, особливо через державне втручання в ринкові відносини шляхом регулювання цін. Об'єднана Європа при реалізації спільної аграрної політики в будь-якому випадку буде найбільшим експортером продовольства, оскільки як свідчить досвід обмежити зростання сільськогосподарського виробництва надто складно. До того ж експорт продукції відбувається на основі субсидування. The objective of the article is to investigate the mechanism of functioning of multifunctional agriculture in the EU countries as a basis for providing a safety of supplies and to improve the efficiency of economic development AIC in Ukraine in the context of solving the food problems.

This paper describes the development, functioning and governance of quality assurance schemes for olive oil in three cooperative organizations. Two questions are addressed: first, how the construction of new quality schemes by cooperatives can lead to the fragmentation of the membership base, and hence the need for new institutional arrangements; and second, how the development of such schemes alters the interdependencies between parties (cooperative organization and its members), and how this is governed. The comparative analysis shows the relevance of the social and cultural contexts in shaping the mechanisms of governance, as well contributing to the policy debate in the European Union regarding new food quality schemes.

Los precios elevados y los reducidos stocks han dado lugar globalmente a precios de granos y semillas oleaginoasas crecientemente mas volatiles. Algunos analistas opinan que estamos entrando en una nueva etapa de escasez de alimentos y de precios crecientes. Otros interpretan el fuerte alza de los precios como una interrupcion del proceso de declive de precios de largo plazo. En la UE, los pagos desacoplados proporcionan un considerable efecto estabilizador de la renta que ha compensado gran parte del incremento de volatilidad de las recientes campanas, Ek futuro de los pagos desacoplados esta asegurado hasta 2013, pero no esta claro que se mantengan posteriormente. La combinacion de precios altemente volatiles con una reduccion significative de los pagos desacoplados despues de 2013 daria razones para demandar politicas que permitan estabilizar las rentas y favorezcan la gestion de riesgos en la agricultura. Dos aspectos adicionales que guardan relacion con la volatilidad son la politica de bio-combustibles y el impacto de los inversores financieros sobre el funcionamiento de los mercados de materias primas agrarias, y especialmente si la eficacia de instrumentos de gestion de riesgos como los contratos de futuros ha podido resultar danada por la actividad de los inversores...High prices and low stocks have lead to increasingly volatile prices on grain and oilseed markets worldwide. Some analysts believe that we are entering a new era of scarce food and rising prices. Others see the recent sharp increase in prices as yet another interruption in a continuing long-run trend of declining prices. In the EU, decoupled payments provide a considerable amount of income stabilization that has compensated for much of the increased price volatility in recent years. The future of decoupled payments is secure until 2013, but it is not clear whether they can be sustained thereafter. Continued high price volatility combined with a significant reduction in decoupled payments after 2013 would increase calls for improved stabilization and risk management policies in agriculture. Two other important volatility-related issues are the future of bio-fuels policy and the impact of financial investors on agricultural commodity market performance, and especially whether the performance of risk management tools such as futures markets have been impaired by the activity of financial investors.

Planning agricultural and environmental programmes has become a complex task. In this paper we show how interactive programming can help to solve such complex policy decision-making problems. The basic linear programming model is implemented with Excel. We show, for a hypothetical agricultural and environmental programme, how the approach can be used in an interactive way between scientists and policy decision-makers. The approach allows to visually demonstrate and quickly assess the consequences of changing assumptions and framework conditions on the programme design. It could effectively improve the quality of policy decision-making support; it requires the actors’ willingness, of course, to engage in a real dialogue.

End of Project Report The purpose of this project is to examine the impact of the Berlin agreement on EU agricultural policy reform at farm level and to estimate how farmers are likely to respond to new policy changes. Eight Representative farms in the cattle and dairy sectors are developed in order to analyse the different sectors of the farming community. Linear programming models are constructed to estimate how these farmers are likely to respond to the changing policy. Estimates of farm income are also produced. The impact of Agenda 2000 on these representative farms was analysed. The key findings showed that all farms will be subjected to a price-cost squeeze over the next ten years. By responding to policy changes farmers will be able to maintain farm net margins and in some cases increase them modestly. The key to success for dairy farmers is expansion of milk quota. Purchasing of currently leased quota and additional quota, where possible, allows larger dairy farms to maintain profits. However, smaller dairy farms, 20,000 gallons of quota or less, are pushed and pulled out of farming. Rising production costs, static milk prices and unaffordable quota push them out, while attractive sale prices for quota and potentially high off farm incomes pull them out of dairy farming. In relation to cattle farming, results show that the key to success is the maximisation of direct payments. Small and part-time farms will find extensification schemes increasingly more profitable over the coming years. While larger farms can expand operations following the changes in premia limits set out in Agenda 2000. Off farm employment will continue to be a major issue for cattle farmers to consider. It is projected however, that margins can be maintained at a sufficiently high level on large cattle farms to keep them in business.

The paper describes the development and policy environment of organic farming in the European Union, where organic farming has grown rapidly due to a variety of factors. Policy measures concerning area-based financial support for conversion to and continuation of organic farming, officially-recognized standards and support for market and regional development, advice and research are considered. This indicates that individual measures can also work against each other. In some countries, good experiences have been made with integrated action plans, an approach that is also being discussed at the European level and which could achieve a good basis for the development of organic farming in future.

The Uruguay Round has established completely new rules for agricultural trade, but not yet achieved much liberalisation. The current new round of negotiations will, therefore, have to make another big step forward. Countries’ views on what exactly should be agreed in the new round still differ widely. However, it is remarkable that no country has so far doubted the validity of the new WTO rules for agriculture, nor refused to engage in serious negotiations about further reductions. The EU has so far not had major difficulties to honour the new commitments that resulted from the Uruguay Round, though in the area of export subsidies the constraints have already been felt. In the new round of negotiations, EU export subsidies will be a primary target of negotiations, given the fact that the EU grants around 88 % of all agricultural export subsidies world-wide. It will, therefore, be important for the EU to change its policies such that EU agriculture can export without subsidies. In the cereals sector, Agenda 2000 has made a notable step in this direction. For other products, though, the EU will need more reforms in the future.