This study aims to provide an overview of regulation with regard to the acquisition of ownership of agricultural lands by legal persons in four countries: Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Each state is analysed in separate chapters. The frame of reference for this research is food sovereignty; therefore, regulation in the respective countries is examined in light of this paradigm. Research has shown that even in a group of such closely related countries, there are significant differences in the scrutinised legal regulation. At the end of the study, a conclusion is drawn in light of food sovereignty.
In this respect, we consider highlighting the following observations. The comparison of national land laws is based on their status as of February 1, 2022, while two national land law regimes -namely the Slovenian and Hungarianhave undergone significant changes, which have also been taken into account in the present analysis.One basis for the comparison was the document called "Commission Interpretative Communication on the Acquisition of Farmland and European Union Law," 3 1 We would like to express our gratitude to the authors of the national chapters for their support and helpful comments while preparing this concluding chapter. Especially for: the document sent to us by Franci Avsec: Some explanation and additional information concerning regulation
Jelen tanulmány megírásának apropóját egy örökzöld és rendszeresen visszatérő probléma adta. Történt ugyanis, hogy Magyarország Kormánya 2021. júliusában az úgynevezett Termőföld Magántőkealap létrehozásáról döntött, amely a kelet-közép-európai régióban történő termőföldvásárlást tűzte ki céljául, ezáltal megteremtve a hazai mezőgazdasági vállalkozások nemzetközi terjeszkedésének jogi és gazdasági alapját. A 400 000 000 euró keretösszegű befektetési alap létrehozását – melyet a környező országokban való földvásárlásra hoztak volna létre – azonban korántsem fogadta pozitívan északi szomszédunk, Szlovákia.
Slovakia’s accession to the European Union opened a whole new chapter in the country’s history and brought dynamic changes to its land transfer regulation. In the Slovak Republic, the moratorium forbidding the purchase of agricultural land by foreigners expired in 2014. Following this period, the European Commission launched a comprehensive examination regarding land acquisition regulations in the newly acceded member states. The investigation revealed that specific provisions of the Slovak land regulation restricted the EU’s fundamental economic freedoms. The Slovak legislator responded to this situation by amending a particular paragraph of the Foreign Exchange Act, which has resulted in opening the agricultural land market not only to EU nationals but also to third-country nationals. In addition, several new rules concerning this subject were adopted, namely the Act on the acquisition of ownership of agricultural land. It should be noted that even before the mentioned revelation, this Act had been the subject of numerous public debates. Consequently, the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic annulled a significant part of the Act on land acquisition in its decision on November 14, 2018, which has contributed to the agricultural land market becoming fully open in Slovakia. This chapter introduces the current legislation on land protection and characterizes the rules on agricultural land regulation and land transfer law in Slovakia, exploring the constitutional level with particular regard to the decision delivered by the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic in detail. Moreover, the proceeding initiated by the European Commission is also a subject of this study. Finally, the national legal instruments of Slovakia are also analyzed in light of the Commission’s Interpretative Communication.
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