Projects "Further development of the EU-agricultural policy"

In cooperation with the Thünen-Institute of Farm Economics, the Thünen-Institue of International Forestry and Forest Economics and entera the Thünen-Institute of Rural Studies evaluates rural develpoment programmes and measures within a multi-disciplinary team and approach. The Institute of Rural Studies is the leading partner. Main tasks are analyses regarding programme delivery and implementation, enviromental issues, the support of human capital and cooperation activities as well as rural development including the LEADER approach.

Starting with the agricultural reform of 2013 new instruments for grassland conservation and protection have been adopted. They have been implemented with the intention to stop the strong decline of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. One of the crucial factors is the ongoing reduction of species-rich grassland.

Site-related measures in the agricultural funding and the intervention scheme are currently checked with time - and cost-intensive on spot checks. A Web application, based on remote sensing data, should change that.

The 2. Pillar of CAP belongs to the Common Agricultural Policy, but simultaneously addresses the Cohesion Policy. It is situated between the poles of sector-related and regional policy. Furthermore, it must contribute to the overall climate and environmental EU-objectives. We analyse in our project current policy instruments and elaborate proposals for future adjustments.

Biodiversity in agricultural landscapes is experiencing significant decline. To counteract this, since 2015 some of the direct payments under EU agricultural policy have been subject to “Greening requirements”. Most farms with more than 15 hectares of arable land must use 5% of their arable land for environmental conservation and dedicate it as an Ecological Focus Area. Based on the results of the first OEVForsch project (2015-2016), this project will investigate the implementation and effectiveness of Ecological Focus Areas in the German agricultural landscape.

In the 1950s, the lapwing was a very common species in German agricultural landscapes. Since then, its population has undergone a steep decline. Which agri-environmental measures can help the lapwing to breed and successfully reproduce on arable fields?

The EU Commission decided in 2013/2014 to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The aim is a better distribution of the agricultural funds and a more environmentally friendly, „greener“, first pillar of the CAP. The reasons for the reform were the observation of dramatic declines in number of species in the agricultural landscape and persistently high inputs of nutrients and plant protection products (PPPs) into the soil and water. In addition, in regions with intensively used agricultural land, voluntary agri-environmental measures have rarely been implemented. The aim of this research project (GAPEVAL2) is to assess the impact of the CAP reform on the abiotic resource protection in Germany, based on the data from the Integrated Accounting and Control System (IACS). An additional goal is to develop alternative proposals for changes to achieve the objectives. The project builds on the findings of the previous GAPEval project.

Agriculture is the largest user of land in Germany and due to agriculture many different positive and negative effects on abiotic environmental goods, like soil, water, air and climate arise. In addition of agri-environmental measures the Common Agricultural Practice of the EU (CAP) uses the instrument of the Greening to implement environmental protection targets for agricultural areas. Within the GAPEVAL project we estimate the effects of the CAP reform on the protection of abiotic resources in Germany. We focus especially on the form of promotion and the implementation of the guidelines and the funding of the Greening.

Farmers must lead the way: they must care for flowering areas, fertilize with improved technology, and farm organically if agri-environmental programs are to make an impact in protecting the climate and the environment. Our job is, on the one hand, to estimate the total impact of agri-environmental programs on the environment, and on the other hand, how the programs influence conditions for a competitive and sustainable agriculture. We carry out the necessary analyses. They are based on statistics, monitoring and bookkeeping data and include various parts of the Federal Republic of Germany and comparisons to other EU member states. From this information we derive recommendations for the further development of agri-environment programs.

Since the early 1990s, evaluations have formed an important part of the profile of the Thuenen-Institute of Rural Studies, respectively, of its predecessors. We developed analysis and assessment methods in an on-going process. Better access to micro-data supports this process.

The evaluation at the Institute of Rural Studies covers most of the provided measures of the six rural development programmes. We examine the programme effects on water, soil and climate protection, on economic growth and employment as well as quality of life in rural areas. Furthermore we analyze the implementation procedures and the costs of implementation in order to assess the efficiency of funding.

How much public money is spent for rural development? Are objectives and measures appropriate? Could they realise the intended impacts? What approaches exist for improvements? We are analysing these and further questions within other RDP-evaluation activities in seven German states.

TRUSTEE is a research cooperation ofsixteen partners from eight European countries (Germany, France, Austria, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Spain, Sweden). The partners cooperate in research on the complex relations between economic development and utilisation and management of resources in rural areas. In order to cope with the complex topic the project applies an interdisciplinary approach. In Sub-project 3.3 we analyse how institutional rules and guidelines from higher political levels affect strategies of local agents.