Agri-environmental schemes in the European Union: the role of ex ante costs (original) (raw)
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This paper investigates the personal and property characteristics of landowners who use EU Rural Development agri-environmental schemes (AES), as well as their motives for participation or non-participation in such schemes. The study is based on a questionnaire survey with landowners, in selected study areas in the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Italy and Greece. Our principal findings show that AES tend to attract more the owners of larger farms, who are frequently full-time, younger, post-primary school educated and agriculturally-trained farmers. The latter findings are contingent on local geographical particulari-ties and on subjective factors, farmers' individualities, different rural cultures, landscape types, EU and national policies and special needs of the study areas—all areas where agricultural production is increasingly marginalized, for different reasons. Subsidy scheme participation motives did not seem to be strictly economic; they also regarded personal satisfaction. They are all together generally appeared to be place specific, since the respondents from peri-urban Northern European areas were more motivated to participate in AES than respondents from Central and Southern European areas with marginal potential for agriculture. Motives for non-participation were also found to be dependent on the level of farming engagement and on case-area landscape types.
The design of agri-environmental schemes: Farmers’ preferences in southern Spain
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Agri-environmental schemes (AES) play a key role in promoting the production of environmental public goods by European Union agriculture. Although extensive literature has analyzed AES, some important issues remain understudied. This paper performs an ex-ante assessment of AES in permanent cropping, analyzing several issues that have received little attention from researchers, such as ecological focus areas (EFA) and collective participation. For this purpose, a choice experiment was used to assess farmers' preferences toward AES in a case study of olive groves in southern Spain. Results show high heterogeneity among farmers, with different classes being identified, from potential participants to non-participants. As regards EFA, almost half of the farmers would be willing to accept it for low monetary incentives (€8-9/ha per additional 1% of the farmland devoted to EFA) while the rest would do it for moderate-to-high monetary incentives (€41-151/ha per additional 1% of EFA). However, for a high share of EFA (e.g., 5-7%) higher incentives would presumably be required due to the intrinsic spatial restrictions of olive groves. With regard to collective participation, we find that it is unlikely that farmers would participate collectively with the incentive of the up-to-30% EU-wide bonus. These results are relevant for policy-making now when new AES are being designed for the next programming period 2014-2020.
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2018
Designing agri-environment schemes (AESs), the European Union's main policy tool to improve the environmental performance of farms, that result in participation in the areas of most need is a challenge faced by policymakers. A number of high level options are available to policy makers including the use of voluntary and mandatory measures, top-down versus participatory approaches, collaborative versus coordinated participation, and whether to target the schemes or apply them horizontally. Using Ireland as a case study, this paper assesses the evolving structure of AES design in the context of changing environmental targets, by creating an institutional framework to analyse past and current AESs and other measures. This information is then used in a spatial analysis comparing the location of important environmental public goods to participation in agri-environment schemes. The analysis shows that although higher uptake in extensive farming areas may not result in additionality, d...
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In Europe most conservation values, from biodiversity to scenic sites, are integral parts of agricultural landscapes. When these landscapes change as a result of agricultural policies, natural values-species, habitats, landscapesare usually affected. Until recently however, these values have not been part of agricultural policies. The impacts of such new policies are difficult to evaluate because landscapes are complex and diverse, and the effects of policy are rarely immediate or causal. This paper evaluates the potential effects of Agri-environmental Regulation EC 2078/92 on European agricultural landscapes through the use of agri-environmental indicators (AEIs) on policy effects. After discussing the general framework of the evaluation methodology through the use of AEIs, we distinguish two types of agri-environmental policy (AEP) effects: policy performances and policy outcomes. The impediments to direct measurement of policy outcomes are stated. The potential for measuring policy performances are checked in two case study areas, one in Spain and one in Denmark, characterized by extensive agricultural land-uses and by the dual process of intensification/abandonment that is threatening their natural values. Both study areas are currently targeted by agri-environmental schemes under Reg. 2078/92. The realisability or availability of suitable statistical data to construct and report each AEI is stated for both types of effects. A problem of scale and content is found in most of the available statistics for assessing policy outcomes and the need for data at farm level is concluded to be indispensable if policy performances are to be measured. Effects of policy performance are measured for key selected AEIs in each study area on the basis of the results of a field survey based on questionnaires of participating and non-participating farmers in the AEP schemes. The main effects may be catalogued as improvement effects or protection effects since they represent a change in participant over non-participant farmers' decisions. Finally, the importance of this type of policy evaluation approach is discussed in the light of the likely future development of AEP in the European Union.
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Efficient agri-environment schemes (AESs), the European Union’s main policy tool to improve the environmental performance of farms, address environmental concerns in a way which maximises the social benefit while minimising the cost. To design such schemes, policymakers are faced with a wide range of options. These include using voluntary or mandatory measures, top-down versus participatory approaches, collaborative versus coordinated participation, and whether to target the schemes or apply them horizontally. The efficiency of each of these options is dependent on the context and appropriateness of the application. Using Ireland as a case study, this paper assesses the evolving structure of AES design in the context of changing environmental targets, by creating an institutional framework to analyse past and current AESs and other measures. This is then compared to participation in AESs and the location of environmental public goods in order to determine the relative efficiency of ...
Doorn, Anne van, Berien Elbersen, 2012. Implementation of High Nature Value farmland in agri-environmental policies: What can be learned from other EU member states? Wageningen, Alterra, Alterra Report 2289. 64 pp.; 11 fig.; 5 tab.; 26 ref. The term High Nature Value farmland (HNV) refers to types of farmland that are important for biodiversity. In the European agrienvironmental policy arena HNV is gaining interest, especially in the ongoing debate about the greening of the Common Agricultural Policy. At present The Netherlands lags behind in terms of HNV policy adoption. This reports describes in what way three EU member states implement HNV farmland in their agri-environmental policy and discusses which lessons can be drawn from the cases. The report concludes with a roadmap on how The Netherlands could proceed in the further integration of HNV farmland in its agri-environmental policy.