Search results

The latest reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has recently been accepted, identifying important challenges for EU agriculture, but proposing only limited changes to the previous CAP. Now it is time for the implementation of the new measures. However, from a theoretical point of view, it seems that the CAP can hardly meet the challenges it faces due to the inconsistencies between the predefined challenges and the measures proposed to meet them. The aim of the paper is to systematically analyse the consistency between the challenges of European agriculture and the policy measures aimed at meeting them. It seems that not all measures are consistent with the challenges.

This paper investigates determinants of agricultural sector efficiency in ten new member states (NMS-10) of the European Union (EU) from Central and Eastern European countries by the non-parametric method Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the panel data analysis. The agricultural sector efficiency varies between the NMS-10. We have found positive and significant association of the agricultural sector efficiency with the natural agricultural factor endowments, average farm size, farm specialization, small-scale farms, and the EU integration process. The foreign direct investments have an ambiguous affect, while the nominal assistance rate is not found significant. Reform and institutional developments and liberalization are associated with the agricultural sector efficiency positively, and vice versa infrastructure development and agricultural policy reforms, which have caused job flows and agricultural employment adjustments. The urban-rural income gap with job flows and agricultural labour adjustments have caused the agricultural sector efficiency positively.