Direct Payments and Sustainable Agricultural Development—The Example of Poland

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the importance of the direct-payments scheme as a tool for supporting the sustainable development of agriculture in Poland, and to assess the effects of the 2015 Common Agricultural Policy reform in this context. In particular, the study attempts to investigate the impact of different fund-allocation criteria on the regional distribution of direct payments. The research employs a simulation method in the form of variant analysis (the “what if” model)—a mathematical method with elements of statistical description, based on the complete dataset. For the purposes of one of the variants, a multi-criteria composite indicator was constructed, including stimulants and destimulants of the level of environmental sustainability of agricultural plant production. The analysis was conducted at the NUTS 2 level (voivodeships). The timeframe of the study covered the period 2010–2019. The data published by Statistics Poland and the Agency for the Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture were used as the source material. The analysis indicated that the 2015 Common Agricultural Policy reform redistributed public funds away from sustainable agricultural management principles. Applying some basic sustainability criteria in order to internalise environmental externalities would lead to a radical redistribution of first-pillar Common Agricultural Policy payments. The paper concludes that a real greening of the European Union’s agricultural policy is a task still to be accomplished.

Green Payment Programs and Farmland Prices—An Empirical Investigation

“…Finally, this paper complements the literature examining how direct payments can be reformed to improve environmental outcomes. Sadłowski et al [30] find that the 2015 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reform redistributed funds from environmentally friendly agricultural practices, rather than supporting them, in Poland. Similarly, Scown et al [31] indicate that government support programs in the CAP must be more explicitly linked to climate and environmental outcomes.…”

Challenges for agriculture in Poland resulting from the implementation of the strategic objectives of the European Green Deal

“…A properly conducted agricultural economy is an integral part of the ecosystem, while incorrect farming contributes to its destabilisation. Therefore, sustainable economic development is impossible without sustainable development of agriculture, which, in addition to its economic and social significance, is also assigned a particular environmental and climatic significance (Sadłowski et al, 2021;Wrzaszcz & Prandecki, 2020;Zegar, 2012).…”

The Impact of RDP Measures on the Rural Development: The Case of Romania

“…Applying some fundamental sustainability criteria for the internalization of the environment externalities would lead to a radical redistribution of payments within the first pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy. From their point of view, a real ecologization of the EU's agricultural policy is an objective still to be attained [43].…”