EU Agricultural and Land Policy - Sylabus

 

Objectives, needs

  • to identify and explain the basics of EU agriculture and land policy
  • to learn how to assess and monitor EU agriculture and land policy
  • to explain financial framework of the implemented policy
  • to discuss effective integration of environmental considerations into other policies

Achieving many of priority objectives of EU land policy demand more effective integration of environmental consideration into other policies, as well as more coherent, joined-up approaches that deliver multiple benefits. This should help ensure that difficult trade-off are managed early on, rather than in the implementation phase, and that unavoidable impacts can be mitigated more effectively. Module reacts on the need to include measures to further support environmental integration and sustainability of land in the EU.

Methodology

  • Methodology of teaching content: lectures including guest speakers, seminars, practical assignments, class discussion, team project work, study of related publications and relevant websites
  • Evaluation of the students: class participation (10%) + work on specific research questions (60%) + written exam (30%)

Teaching syllabus (12hours lectures/semester + individual research work)

  1. Introduction to the European Union and EU legislation
    Questions for discussion: Importance of European Union and its legal system? Crucial tasks of European legislation nowadays? 
    History and development of the EU fundamental principles, philosophies and concepts of the EU legislation, importance of harmonisation of EU legislation
  2. Functioning of the EU legislation
    Explanation and discussion on EU Treaties, legal acts: regulations, directives and decisions and other binding legal norms and its realisation in EU, decision making process, implementation process into to legal order of Slovakia
  3. Policies of the EU and Agricultural and Land Policy
    Development of the EU policies, special interest will be given to the history and development of the Common Agricultural Policy and its legal background as the most integrated and broadness policy of the EU, its functioning and task for current society.
  4. EU Common Agricultural Policy (1) – schemes for support (Single Farm Payment vs. Single Area Payment Scheme), direct payments, instruments for regulation of internal and external market, Rural development policy)
  5. EU Common Agricultural Policy (2) - Cross-compliance (Statutory Management Requirements - 18 legislative standards in the field of the environment, food safety, animal and plant health and animal welfare and Good agricultural and environmental condition: The obligation of keeping land in good agricultural and environmental conditions 
  6. EU Land market – land use, market with agricultural land (supply, demand), agricultural land prices (sale, rent), moratorium on land purchases in the EU.
  7. Assessment of implementation of EU land policy
    Tools for assessment and monitoring of EU land policy. Strategic Environmental Assessment directive, Environmental Impact Assessment directives. Importance and efficient implementation of directives, problems with the implementation at local and national level. Practical case of decisions with respects of directives.

References

  1. Strategic Environmental Assessment directive, Environmental Impact Assessment directives
  2. HILL, B. Understanding the Common Agricultural Policy. Earthscan, London and New York, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-84407-778-6
  3. SKOGSTAD, G.D. – VERDUN, A.. Published as a special issue of the Journal of European Integration. 2010. ISBN 978-0-41-564119-7
  4. Paul De Grauwe. Economics of Monetary Union. Oxford University Press. 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-956323-4
  5. CIANIAN, P. - D'artis KANCS – SWINNEN, J F.M.. EU Land Markets and the Common Agricultural Policy. European Union and Centre for European Policy Studies. 2010. ISBN 978-92-9079-963-4