European Agricultural Policy and Structural Changes in Agricultural Holdings in Podravje between 2002 – 2012

Namen članka je predstaviti evolucijo evropske kmetijske politike kot odgovor na vedno nove izzive razvoja podeželja. S premoščanjem velikih regionalnih razlik v razvitosti podeželja se je EU pričela institucionalno ukvarjati v osemdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja. Spremembe v paradigmi razvoja podeželja v Evropski skupnosti so posledica učinkov deindustrializacije in širitve EU na območje Sredozemlja. Prišlo je do premika od sektorske politike do teritorialne politike, ki vključuje politike različnih gospodarskih sektorjev na nacionalni, regionalni in lokalni ravni. Eksogeni model kmetijske politike, usmerjen na kmetijski sektor in kmete kot nosilce je zamenjal endogeni model. Podeželje se z novo skupno kmetijsko politiko obravnava kot celoviti prostor. Razvojne pobude nastajajo v lokalnem okolju. Prihaja do mreženja idej, ki vključuje politike različnih gospodarskih sektorjev na multiinstitucionalni ravni. Zavedanje in prepoznavanje kmečkih vrednot (rural values), tako ekoloških, kulturnih kot socialnih je glavni motivacijski faktor lokalnih skupnosti pri pripravi razvojnih projektov. V naši raziskavi nas je zanimalo, kako so ti novi pristopi vplivali na strukturne spremembe kmetijskih gospodarstev Podravja. Zajeli smo Podravsko in Koroško statistično regijo (NUTS 3).Rural and agricultural development is one of the priorities of the European Union policy. Rural areas represent the majority of the territory of the member states and are becoming increasingly important from both, the standpoint of healthy food production as well as the habitat, alike. The agriculture in the EU is regulated in accordance with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which is a system framework for provision of funding for more equal rural and regional development in the enlarged Union. In the context of CAP, Leader programmes were created. Each new version of the programme included new approaches. The awareness of the fact that paying attention to agriculture as an economic sector and using direct subsidies as a means to implement a policy were not sufficient, was the basis for the new development paradigm which, in addition to agriculture, included also the spatial dimension – rural area and multisectoral approach. The new approach is based on the bottom-up endogenous approach. Globalisation and fastgrowing disparities in development at both, national and regional levels, led the OECD to prepare a new rural development paradigm in 2006 which redefined the key subjects at the decision-making level as well as the level of measures aimed at facilitating substantial rural development. Changes previously applied in the production sector served as an example of good practice. Based on the search of ways to overcoming global economic crisis, and the Europa 2020 guidelines, the new CAP reform proposals from 2011 were founded on two pillars. The first one comprises of measures for strengthening competitiveness of the agricultural sector, measures to facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship, whereas the second pillar aims at tackling climate changes, and strives for environment protection, biodiversity, and efforts to maintain and provide new jobs and economic growth in the rural area. Any substantial reduction in agricultural activity in the European Union would contribute to lowering the GDP and loss of jobsin related economic sectors. This pertains mainlytothe agricultural- and food supply chain which depends on the primary agricultural sector as well as to the related non‑food sectors, such as tourism, transport, and the scope of local and public services. The effects of this would reflect in desolation of the space, accelerated depopulationof rural areas, which would result in important environmental and social consequences. Main focus of modern agricultural activity lies on provision of healthy food, self-sufficiency in food, and environmental protection. North-eastern Slovenia is most definitely one of the areas with the highest food production potential, with Podravje and Pomurje whose relief-, climate-and pedology factors are favourable for arable farming and agriculture in general. Conveying the analysis, the focus was on Podravje which corresponds well to two NUTS 3 regions: Koroška SI013 and Podravska SI012 region. Koroška and Podravska regions (hereinafter referred to as Podravje) cover two geographically very different landscapes, namely the Subalpine and sub-Pannonian north-eastern Slovenia. The Subalpine part of Podravje is marked by the hilly relief of Pohorje, the Kozjak with Košenjak, the Strojna and Uršlja gora which, with Peca in the west already make transition into a real Alpine landscape. The results are manifested in relief features but more distinctively in climate- and pedogenetic features. In this area, forest is the predominant type of soil use. Arable areas can be found only in the plain bottoms of the Meža, Mislinja and Drava valleys, and also in some places in the hills where individual farms have been emerging since the Middle Ages due to high-altitude colonisation. The sub-Pannonian part of Podravje comprises of hilly landscapes (Dravinjske gorice, Haloze, Slovenske gorice) and the intermediary alluvial plains (Dravsko polje, Ptujsko polje and Središko polje). In terms of the climate, this is a landscape with a lower level of precipitation and higher temperatures, which is favourable for agriculture and growing some special cultures (viticulture, fruit-growing). It is the sub-Pannonian Slovenia, in addition to Pomurje, which is one of the regions with the highest food-production potential in Slovenia. The fundamental reasons for the retreat of arable land can be identified in building up new areas with service activities (shopping and service centres), building motorways and the associated infrastructure, dispersed individual building and transition of arable areas into overgrowth or forests. Some of the causes for overgrowing arable areas are: unfavourable agricultural policy, abandoning the land due to market conditions and unfavourable age structure of the agricultural population. The positive results of introducing the new common agricultural policy are the changes in average size of agricultural holdings. The number of middle-size and large agricultural holdings is increasing. Introduction of knowledge and new forms of farming helps to improve the quality and the quantity of the products. At the same time, farms are becoming multifunctional and are introducing additional, non-farming activities, which increases their income and affects improvement of living conditions in the rural area. This trend is also shown in the increasing number of farms with known ownership. The crisis in other economic sectors in urban centres affects the migration of population to the rural areas, primarily those with formed infrastructure and good accessibility to urban centres. The conditions vary from one municipality to another. Municipalities which have adapted to changes and were able to take advantage of their human capital as well as their natural resources, experienced fewer negative demographic changes, which also reflected in their respective land use, development and integration between sectors and improved public services. The problems obstructing faster development of Slovenian rural areas are: lack of adequate knowledge, lack of examples of good practice and lack of political will. When it comes to knowledge, the most problematic issue is the insufficient role of geographers and lack of their inclusion in local action groups which are one of the important instruments to implementing the common European agricultural policy