Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2014, 60(6):260-272 | DOI: 10.17221/74/2013-AGRICECON

Less favoured area payments - impacts on the environment, a German perspectiveOriginal Paper

Katja RUDOW
University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

In the European Union, the support of Less Favoured Areas (LFA) has a long tradition as a part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Above all, it is the objective of the subsidies to maintain the agricultural production in LFAs, but also to consider the environmental aspects in LFAs and its funding schemes. Investigations of the latter are subject of this article. After having discussed the theoretical possibilities to influence environmental impacts by the funding scheme, several analyses are compiled and complemented by own calculations. The research has shown that agricultural practices within Less Favoured Areas are more environmentally friendly than in other areas. Environmentally friendly in this regard means e.g. a lower use of fertilisers and pesticides, but also a higher participation rate in agri-environmental measures. In addition, the crop structures of farms are analysed, e.g. the share of maize and wheat in farms inside and outside the LFAs. While the results presented in this paper relate mainly to Germany, the information on the European level is also taken into consideration. Finally, based on these investigations, recommendations for the revision of the funding programmes following 2013 are given.

Keywords: agricultural policy, ecology, funding schemes, Germany, land use,

Published: June 30, 2014  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
RUDOW K. Less favoured area payments - impacts on the environment, a German perspective. Agric. Econ. - Czech. 2014;60(6):260-272. doi: 10.17221/74/2013-AGRICECON.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Agrarmarkt Austria (2013): Zahlungen für naturbedingte Nachteile in Berggebieten und Zahlungen in anderen Gebieten mit Benachteiligungen (Ausgleichszulage). (Payments for natural Disadvantages in mountain areas and payments in other areas with handicaps - compensatory allowance.): Available at http://www.ama.at/Portal.Node/public?gentics.rm=PCP≥ntics.pm=gti_full&p.contentid=10008.97770&07Ausgleichszulage-AZ.pdf (accessed February 2013).
    2. Daub R. (2008): Fallstudie zur Wirkung der Ausgleichszulage im Landkreis Vogelsberg - Hessen). (Case Study on Impact of LFA Payments in the Vogelsberg region - Hesse.) Working Paper 7/2008. Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei. Braunschweig.
    3. Deimer C., Heyer W., Lüdigk R. (2008): Evaluation des Entwicklungsplanes für den ländlichen Raum für den Interventionsbereich des EAGFL-Garantie im Förderzeitraum 2000 bis 2006 des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt. (Evaluation of Programme for the Development of Rural Areas in the Periode 2000-2006 in Saxony-Anhalt.) Report for Ex-Post-Evaluation. Landgesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt mbH, Institut für Nachhaltige Landwirtschaft e.V., Institut für Strukturpolitik und Wirtschaftsförderung Halle gGmbH. Halle.
    4. European Commission (1991): Council Directive 91/676/ EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. Brussels.
    5. European Commission (1999): Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF). Brussels.
    6. European Commission (2000): Document VI/12004/00 Part B, The set of common evaluation questions with criteria and indicators pursuant to Article 42(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) 1750/1997. Brussels.
    7. European Commission (2005a): Council Regulation (EC) No. 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Brussels.
    8. European Commission (2005b): Common monitoring and evaluation framework, CMEF, annex VIII of Commission Regulation 1974/2006 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Brussels.
    9. European Commission (2011): Regulation (EU) No 65/2011 of 27 January 2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, as regards the implementation of control procedures as well as cross-compliance in respect of rural development support measures. Brussels.
    10. European Commission (2013): Map of LFAs in the EU 27. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rurdev/lfa/images/map_en.jpg
    11. European Union, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (2011): Rural Development in the European Union, Statistical and Economic Information, Report 2011. Brussels.
    12. Eurostat, Quality Profile, 2010: Available at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/sdi/files/QP_%28Common_bird_index%29-final.pdf (accessed February 2013).
    13. Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management Austria (2010): Mid-Term-Evaluation of the Austrian Programme for Rural Development. Evaluation Report 2010, Vienna.
    14. Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Germany (2012): Gemeinschaftsaufgabe zur Verbesserung der Agrarstruktur und des Küstenschutzes, Rahmenplan 2012-2015. (Common Task of Improvement of the Agricultural Structure and Coastal Protection (GAK) 2012-2015.)
    15. Hochberg H. et al. (2008): Ex-post-Evaluation des Entwicklungsplanes für den ländlichen Raum Thüringen 2000-2006. (Ex-Post-Evaluation of Programme for Development of Rural Areas Thuringia 2000-2006.) Thüringische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft (TLL), Jena.
    16. Hüttermann J., Tinbergen J. (1966): Über die Theorie der Wirtschaftspolitik. (Theory of economic policy.) Grundlagen der Wirtschaftspolitik, Köln.
    17. Institute for European Environmental Policy (2006): An Evaluation on the Less Favoured Area Measures in the 25 Member States of the European Union, Report 2006. London.
    18. Plankl R., Daub R., Gasmi S., Pitsch M., Rudow K. (2008): Ex-Post-Bewertung der Ausgleichszulage in benachteiligten Gebieten (2000-2006). Länderübergreifender Bericht. (Ex-Post-Evaluation of LFA Payments (2000- 2006).) Report for all German Laender. Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei. Braunschweig.
    19. Plankl R., Rudow K. (2008): Ex-Post-Bewertung der Ausgleichszulage in benachteiligten Gebieten in BadenWürttemberg (2000-2006). (Ex-Post-Evaluation of LFA Payments in Baden-Württemberg (2000-2006).) Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei. Braunschweig.
    20. Plankl R., Rudow K., Klockenbring C. (2004): Ausgleichszulage in benachteiligten Gebieten in Deutschland. (Compensatory Allowance in Less Favoured Areas in Germany.) Berichte über Landwirtschaft, Band 82 (1). Münster-Hiltrup: Landwirtschaftsverlag; ISSN 00059080.
    21. Rudow K. (2010): Wirkungen der Ausgleichzulage als Instrument zur Förderung benachteiligter Gebiete in Deutschland. (Impacts of LFA payments in Less Favoured Areas in Germany.) In: Pöchtrager S., Eder M.: Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Agrarökonomie 2010, Band 19: 171-180; ISBN 1815-1027.
    22. Rudow K., Pitsch M. (2008): Fallstudie zur Wirkung der Ausgleichszulage im Landkreis Oberallgäu. Arbeitsbericht 6/2008. (Case study on impact of LFA Payments in the Oberallgäu region (Bavaria). Working paper 6/2008.) Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei. Braunschweig.
    23. ©tolbová M., Hlavsa T. (2008): The impact of LFA payments on FADN farms in the Czech Republic. Agricultural Economics - Czech, 54: 489-497. Go to original source...
    24. ©tolbová M., Hlavsa T., Leke¹ová M. (2010): Methods of calculating the handicaps of less favoured natural conditions. Agricultural Economics - Czech, 56: 215-223. Go to original source...
    25. Tietz A. (2007): Ländliche Entwicklungsprogramme 2007 bis 2013 in Deutschland im Vergleich - Finanzen, Schwerpunkte, Maßnahmen. (Comparison of Rural Development Programmes 2007-2013 in Germany - Budget, Axes, Measures.) Landbauforschung Völkenrode/FAL Agricultural Research, Sonderheft 315, Braunschweig; ISSN 0376-0723.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content