Agricultural Transition in Central and Eastern Europe

International Development,

Rural development in the EU

This article analyses the evolution of European rural regional economies and the Community's public regional policies, with a view to drawing lessons for other areas of the world, especially Latin America. After presenting relative size data for the EU regions based on population, territory, employment and income, the article analyses the key economic and social trends in these areas, together with the underlying explanatory factors. The main conclusion is that the economic development of the rural regions of the EU is much more due to the overall national economic development issues, than to rural development policies. Therefore, the way to achieve rural development is by means of a good overall economic development policy, and national policies are more determining than EU-wide policies in the overall economic development of the EU member states. The article finishes with a summary of the lessons to be learnt from EU rural development policy, which suggest the need for radical change policy change based on a reduction in the agricultural component coupled with an increase in the territorial and environmental components. Desarrollo rural en la UE Resumen Este artículo analiza la evolución de la economía regional rural europea y las políticas regionales públicas comunitarias, con el fin de aportar lecciones a otras áreas del mundo, especialmente Latinoamérica. Después de presentar datos relativos al tamaño de población, territorio, empleo e ingresos de las regiones europeas, el artículo analiza las tendencias clave económicas y sociales de estas áreas, junto con los factores explicativos. La principal conclusión es que el desarrollo económico de las regiones rurales de la UE es mayor debido en mayor medida a el desarrollo económico nacional que a las políticas de desarrollo rural. Además, la vía para conseguir desarrollo rural es a través de buenas políticas de desarrollo económico generales. El artículo finaliza con un resume de los aspectos a aprender de la política de desarrollo rural de la UE, sugiriendo la necesidad de un cambio radical de esta basándose en la reducción del componente agrícola unido a un incremento de los componentes territoriales y ambientales. Palabras clave: economía de las áreas de desarrollo rural, desarrollo económico general y política de desarrollo rural en EU.Economic development of rural areas, overall economic development, EU rural development policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, O18,

Desarrollo rural en la UE

[EN] This article analyses the evolution of European rural regional economies and the Community’s public regional policies, with a view to drawing lessons for other areas of the world, especially Latin America. After presenting relative size data for the EU regions based on population, territory, employment and income, the article analyses the key economic and social trends in these areas, together with the underlying explanatory factors. The main conclusion is that the economic development of the rural regions of the EU is much more due to the overall national economic development issues, than to rural development policies. Therefore, the way to achieve rural development is by means of a good overall economic development policy, and national policies are more determining than EU-wide policies in the overall economic development of the EU member states. The article finishes with a summary of the lessons to be learnt from EU rural development policy, which suggest the need for radical policy change based on a reduction in the agricultural component coupled with an increase in the territorial and environmental components.[ES] Este artículo analiza la evolución de la economía regional rural europea y las políticas regionales públicas comunitarias, con el fin de aportar lecciones a otras áreas del mundo, especialmente Latinoamérica. Después de presentar datos relativos al tamaño de población, territorio, empleo e ingresos de las regiones europeas, el artículo analiza las tendencias clave económicas y sociales de estas áreas, junto con los factores explicativos. La principal conclusión es que el desarrollo económico de las regiones rurales de la UE es mayor debido en mayor medida a el desarrollo económico nacional que a las políticas de desarrollo rural. Además, la vía para conseguir desarrollo rural es a través de buenas políticas de desarrollo económico generales. El artículo finaliza con un resume de los aspectos a aprender de la política de desarrollo rural de la UE, sugiriendo la necesidad de un cambio radical de esta basándose en la reducción del componente agrícola unido a un incremento de los componentes territoriales y ambientales.Buckwell, A. (2006). Rural development in the EU. Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales - Agricultural and Resource Economics. 6(12):93-120. doi:10.7201/earn.2006.12.05SWORD9312061

The role of research in global food and nutrition security

The present discussion document gives an overview of where European research can add the most value in relation to tackling food and nutrition security challenges and points to areas where we can expand our research potential. Moreover, it highlights the need to develop a governance structure that will allow sharing of best practices and facilitate the transfer of knowledge and innovation to feed the planet sustainably. It should stimulate a global discussion with stakeholders and the general public, ultimately shaping a legacy for Expo 2015.JRC.A.TF-EXPO 201

Optimizing land use for the delivery of catchment ecosystem services

© The Ecological Society of America. Despite widespread implementation of best management practices, sustainable farming is neither practical nor possible in certain locations, where protecting water quality and promoting agricultural production are likely to be incompatible. Some strategic prioritization of land-use options and acceptance of continually degraded waterbodies may be required to ensure optimization of multiple ecosystem services in catchments (also known as watersheds or drainage basins). We examine approaches to prioritization and propose catchment buffering capacity as a concept to manage the pressure–impact relationship between land use and aquatic ecosystems. Catchment buffering capacity can be considered as a continuum of biogeochemical, hydrological, and ecological catchment properties that define this relationship. Here, we outline a conceptual framework to assist prioritization: (1) establish a water-quality target, (2) quantify the gap in compliance to achieve the desired target, (3) assess catchment sensitivity to change, and (4) determine the adaptive capacity of catchment communities to reach the target

The Political Economy of the 2014-2020 Common Agricultural Policy: An Imperfect Storm. CEPS Paperback, 17 August 2015

After five years of debates, consultations and negotiations, the European institutions reached an agreement in 2013 on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the 2014-2020 period. The outcome has major implications for the EU’s budget and farmers’ incomes but also for Europe’s environment, its contribution to global climate change and to food security in the EU and in the world. It was decided to spend more than €400 billion during the rest of the decade on the CAP.The official claims are that the new CAP will take better account of society's expectations and lead to far-reaching changes by making subsidies fairer and ‘greener’ and making the CAP more efficient. It is also asserted that the CAP will play a key part in achieving the overall objective of promoting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. However, there is significant scepticism about these claims and disappointment with the outcome of the decision-making, the first in which the European Parliament was involved under the co-decision procedure. In contrast to earlier reforms where more substantive changes were made to the CAP, the factors that induced the policy discussions in 2008-13 and those that influenced the decision-making did not reinforce each other. On the contrary, they sometimes counteracted one another, yielding an ‘imperfect storm’ as it were, resulting in more status quo and fewer changes. This book discusses the outcome of the decision-making and the factors that influenced the policy choices and decisions. It brings together contributions from leading academics from various disciplines and policy-makers, and key participants in the process from the European Commission and the European Parliament

El peso de las limitaciones presupuestarias en la política agrícola común

El trabajo se centra en analizar el presupuesto comunitario y sus principales problemas, así como las limitaciones que impone a la PAC. En primer lugar, se exponen las fuentes de ingresos del presupuesto y las principales categorías de gastos y su naturaleza. Se examinan el proceso y los problemas de la elaboración del presupuesto. Entre estos problemas se destaca la dificultad de prever, al elaborar el presupuesto, las condiciones naturales que determinan el volumen de las cosechas, las condiciones en que van a encontrar los mercados mundiales y los resultados de la fijación de los precios agrícolas. Por último, se plantea la necesidad de emprender cambios institucionales en la PAC para evitar que las decisiones de política agrícola estén condicionadas por las muy limitadas disponibilidades presupuestarias