Selected instruments of environmental protection in the context of contemporary paradigms of EU agriculture

Abstract

The existence of many possible ecological policy instruments and numerous paradigms in the approach to agriculture in Europe prompts us to analyse the intersection of these two. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to present the selected instruments for environmental protection and to assess their impact on the economic condition of farms in the context of the European Union's agriculture paradigms. It has been achieved using the method of analysis of the source texts (desk research). The paper finds necessary to harmoniously expand fiscal/financial instruments of environmental protection, as well as to establish administrative regulations, taking into account the assessment criteria from the perspective of the state, the sector, as well as social environment. We also underline that decision-makers shaping the instruments of agricultural policy as well as climate and environmental policies for rural areas, should precisely identify groups of related instruments of a typically tax, subsidy or financial nature, taking into account the economic size or production type of farms. This objective may be served by more precisely determined eligibility criteria as well as by the promotion of certain types of instruments (e.g. preferential loans and subsidies, or subsidies under Rural Development Programmes, RDPs), which have not been widely disseminated to entities that could potentially benefit from them so far.