Growing out of the niche – can organic agriculture keep its promises? A study of two Austrian cases

2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 155-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecka Milestad ◽  
Sonja Hadatsch
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Environmental Safety ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Organic Farms ◽  
Organic Movement ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level

AbstractThe expansion of organic farming has taken off in the European Union and particularly in Austria, where 9% of farmland is certified organic. The main reasons for this development are subsidies and cooperation with supermarket chains. In Austria, many organic farms are located in the mountainous areas, while lowlands with arable cropping have fewer organic farms than the national average. Exploring two regions as case studies, this paper investigates whether the organic farming movement can keep its promises of environmental safety, economic viability and social justice. There is a high level of environmental concern among those who practice organic farming, but local differences are large. It is the individual farmer who determines whether environmental issues beyond the official organic regulations are considered. The economic situation for organic farms is positive due to the financial support from the government and cooperation with supermarket chains, but processing and marketing operations are still lacking for organic products. Regarding social justice, organic farming enjoys a high esteem among consumers, but relations and cooperation between organic and conventional farm sectors is poor. We conclude that it is crucial for the organic movement to focus on qualitative issues rather than quantitative expansion for further sound development of organic farming in Austria.

Organic farming in Austria

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian R. Vogl ◽  
Jürgen Hess
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Meat Products ◽  
Brand Names ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Organic Farms ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Organic Movement ◽  
Organic Products ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Present Decade

AbstractDuring the present decade, Austria has experienced a dramatic increase in organic farming among those countries that comprise the European Union (EU). For example, in 1992, approximately 2,000 farms were practicing organic, ecological, or biodynamic farming methods. By 1997 the number of certified organic farms plus those in transition from conventional farming had increased 10-fold to some 20,000 farms. This represents almost 9% of the total farms in Austria and an area of 345,375 ha, or 10% of the total cultivated farmland. The largest concentration of organic farms is in regions with a high proportion of alpine grassland or pastures. Approximately 50% of the organic farms range in size from 5 to 15 ha. The strong organic movement in Austria can be attributed to a) government subsidies which provide incentives to organic farmers and b) widespread acceptance of organic products and their brand names by large food chains and supermarkets. More than 60% of organic farmers are affiliated with associations and organizations that provide advisory and support services in marketing activities. Certification of organic farms and food processors is conducted by seven monitoring bodies according to EU regulation No. 2092/91, which guarantees legallybinding standards of food safety and quality to EU consumers, and according to the Austrian Alimentari Codex. Since January 1998, all monitoring/certifying bodies in Austria must verify accreditation according to regulation European Norm 45011. The major supermarket chain offers a variety of organic dairy and meat products, as well as organic ice cream, pizza, vegetables, fruits, baby foods, and bread. The current domestic wholesale value of organic products marketed from Austrian farms is approximately 170 million US$ annually. Unfortunately, funding for support of scientific research and extension to enhance organic farming and marketing has not kept pace with the increasing number of organic farms and farmers. Additional funding is essential to ensure the sustainable development of the organic movement and the organic market.

Notes and Comments

1987 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 51-54
Author(s):  
Sanat Mehta
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Public Enterprises ◽  
Strategic Competence ◽  
Finance Minister ◽  
The Government ◽  
High Level

Vikalpa publishes three responses to K R S Murthy's article “Do Public Enterprises Need a Corporate Strategy?” (April-June 1987). Professor Laxmi Narain agrees with Murthy's argument that the strategic competence of public sector enterprises is low. However, he questions whether the conditions and context of high level competence can be laid down as requirements for formulating a corporate strategy. He argues that public enterprises do need a strategy while their environment and competence would decide the extent of their success. Agreeing with Murthy's arguments, Professor S K Chakraborty suggests that the government should withdraw from managing the enterprises. Former Finance Minister of Gujarat Shri Sanat Mehta points out that chairmen and managing directors of the profit making public enterprises behave almost like Rajas and waste resources. He states that public enterprises have a role to play in spreading social justice.

Not Quite What You Expected: The Curious Case of Brexit Scrutiny in the Czech Parliament

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Kaniok ◽  
Monika Brusenbauch Meislova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Institutional Adjustment ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Government ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The aim of the article is to explore how the Czech bicameral parliament has reacted to the process of the United Kingdom's (UK's) withdrawal from the European Union (EU). Drawing upon insights from the theoretical expectations of parliamentary power, the inquiry researches the ways that Czech legislatures have developed in terms of engaging with and influencing the Brexit process. In this regard, the Czech case is exceptionally interesting and worth exploring, since the EU agenda has become a highly politicised issue within the Czech context. The significance of this inquiry has been further highlighted by the high level of party-based Euroscepticism typical of Czech politics as well as the frequent changes that the Czech party system has been undergoing in recent years. Throughout the in-depth analysis of parliamentary scrutiny activities—conceptualised as comprising four aspects: (i) the institutional adjustment; (ii) articulation of priorities; (iii) interactions with the government and (iv) parliamentary party politics—the article considers how these activities compare between both chambers of the Czech Parliament.

Proposal for a more efficient subsidy system for organic farming: Potential use of the tax system within the European Union

2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 148-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enno Bahrs
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Current System ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Performance Ratio ◽  
The European Union ◽  
High Turnover ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Short Supply ◽  
The Individual

AbstractAgricultural enterprises that are run on ecological principles receive, in some countries, higher levels of financial support from the European Union (EU) than other agricultural businesses. The aim is to provide an incentive for businesses to adopt organic farming systems, a change desired by both politicians and society. However, with a fixed system of support payments based on land area, increasing the proportion of farms being run organically leads directly to higher costs of subsidies for the EU and the individual countries. This becomes especially true if enterprises with large land areas, high turnover and high income are converted to organic farming methods. Because financial resources within the member states are in very short supply, a modification of the current system of subsidies would seem to be necessary in the near future. The aim of any new system should be to reduce profit windfalls without making a drastic reduction in the incentive effect of the current system. At the same time, businesses that can run along these lines on a sustainable basis should be especially supported. This requires an increased level of individual assessment of the potential of the subsidized enterprises in relation to their cost–performance ratio for organic agricultural production. In this connection, a partial change to profit-based tax systems can be used as an effective instrument for co-financing. The method used to calculate profits for tax purposes, which varies from state to state, can be used to assess the performance and success of the organic farmer. Tax-free allowances or reductions in tax rates could be used to provide a selective subsidy method. The ability to relate subsidies to performance, thereby reducing windfall profits, is not the only advantage of using the tax system for this purpose. Another advantage is the low transaction costs. Using the example of the offsetting of profits between time periods, it will be shown here that the tax system can be used as an additional instrument for subsidization. The existing methods of subsidy can only be supported in this way, not completely substituted.

Farmers' attitudes towards sustainable agriculture issues and environmental quality in a selected area of Bangladesh

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Z. Rahman ◽  
H. Mikuni
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Productivity Loss ◽  
Favorable Attitude ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
Aquatic Life ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level

AbstractThe sustainability issues associated with agricultural development are a growing concern worldwide. This study focussed on farmers' attitudes about environmental degradation and long term productivity loss that may result from implementation of modern agricultural technologies. The study was conducted in a selected area of Bangladesh and field level data were collected from the sampled farmers through personal interviewing. Findings revealed that more than two-thirds of the farmers confronted either a medium or high level of environmental problems due to intensive cultivation. Their main concerns were stress on soil fertility, loss of essential aquatic life, and reduction of earthworms and other beneficial organisms in soil. The farmers' recommended solutions were production of high yielding crop varieties with conservation management practices, and the balanced use of chemical fertilizers and organic manures. To apply these techniques, the top expectation of the farmers was to receive subsidies for agricultural inputs, and get easy-term credit from the government or non-government organizations. Interestingly, just half the farmers in the study area possessed a less than favorable attitude towards sustainability issues of agricultural development. In other words, to them these issues were of low or marginal priority. Only 6% of them expressed a highly favorable attitude (high priority) and 44% expressed a moderate attitude. Based on correlations, the individual farmer's age, education, family size, organizational participation, television exposure, communication behavior and environmental problem confrontation were identified as the main determinants of their attitudes about sustainability issues. Hence, these factors should be considered when formulating programs and policies for agriculture development that aim for long-term sustainability.

scholarly journals Financial health of agricultural enterprises in the organic farming sector

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (7) ◽  
pp. 91-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Brožová
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Financial Indicators ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Organic Farms ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Agricultural Enterprises ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Organic Farm ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Legal Entities

The present research was aimed at evaluating the economic performance of organic farm enterprises (legal entities) in the Czech Republic on the basis of their production base and financial health. The evaluation was carried out by means of specific financial indicators. The results recorded in the organic farming sector were confronted with those of the conventional agriculture. It stemmed from the analysis that conventionally farming legal entities, as opposed to the organically farming ones, tend to have higher average assets per hectare of farmland. Secondly, as for the structure of assets, fixed assets prevail substantially over current assets. Organic farms, on the contrary, have a significantly higher average value of external financial resources per hectare of farmland. In order to evaluate the financial health of organic farms, their economic results were used; firstly in absolute value (including per hectare calculation) and then within the individual ratios. The analysis showed that 84.4 % farms of the sample were profitable as long as subsidies were included in the yields. While excluding subsidies from the calculations, an overwhelming majority of enterprises (95.3 %) recorded a loss. Comparing the per hectare economic results, higher average profit rates were recorded for organic farms. Furthermore, financial health of the enterprises was analyzed by means of selected indicator ratios. Concrete results, including the respective commentaries, can be found in the present paper too.

scholarly journals Korupcja naruszeniem konstytucyjnych wartości i praw obywateli

2020 ◽  
pp. 109-150
Author(s):  
Waldemar Walczak
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Research Perspective ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
Important Argument ◽  
The Government

The article presents multifaceted considerations and results of analyses concerning the necessity to perceive the phenomenon of corruption through the prism of a gross violation of constitutional values, the principles of the rule of law and social justice. The main focus is on discussing civic rights that are effectively eradicated by corruption, at the same time emphasizing a holistic and systemic approach to understanding and interpreting specific processes and decisions confirmed in practice. At the beginning, it is explained why a broad research perspective should be adopted to understand the essence of corruption. An important argument supporting the correctness of the adopted approach are statements contained in the Government Program for Counteracting Corruption 2018–2020. Next, the most important constitutional values and civil rights are indicated, which are not respected and remain only in the declarative sphere as a result of corrupt practices. In order to prove the illusory nature and facade of certain provisions of the Polish Constitution, important statements contained in the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal are quoted, and then these interpretations are analyzed in relation to real situations occurring in everyday reality. These problem issues are presented from the perspective of the constitutional principle of equality before the law, social justice and non discrimination. It is also noted in this regard that corruption activities are precisely the main factor leading to the division of citizens into two separate categories according to the way they are treated. Finally, it is mentioned that in the European Union ever greater emphasis is currently being placed on compliance with the rule of law. This problem is closely related to the need to understand the negative consequences of corruption as an element that undermines trust in the state, constitutional order and the rule of law.

scholarly journals EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE OF LEGAL REGULATION OF ATTORNEY PROFESSIONAL ETHICAL BEHAVIOR

2019 ◽  
pp. 173-177
Author(s):  
Ya. V. Fliazhnikova
Keyword(s):  
Professional Competence ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Law Firms ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Code Of Practice ◽  
European Experience ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

The European experience in the legal regulation of the lawyer’s professional ethical conduct is important and necessary for any civilized community. Its positive characteristics can be useful for reforming the current legislation of Ukraine and further scientific research. Since the profession of lawyer is designed as a benchmark for the protection of human rights in relations with the government, the existence of clear standards of attorney ethics that meet the generally recognized world standards – is a necessary prerequisite for the effectiveness of the advocacy as such. It is Europe’s universally recognized values, such as the right to life, liberty and security of person, property, fair trial and others, that will only be true values if they can be protected in a civilized legal way. The article reviews the work of the eminent lawyer M. Mollo “Rules of the Bar in France” which outlines important and necessary professional personal requirements that a lawyer in a modern democratic society must meet. The individual provisions of the German Bar, which is an independent organization in the justice system, are examined. The German Bar system allows attorneys to practice law virtually as free entrepreneurs. Moreover, it is determined that the practice of advocacy in Germany contains a lot of innovations, first of which is its concern with countries that are members of the European Union. It should be noted that the author has suggested the first step for Ukraine – based on the experience of Germany – is to establish a single minimum tariff, which would be used by both law firms and individual lawyers. Based on the review of the provisions of the General Code of Practice for EU lawyers, an important next step for Ukraine has been identified is the rules on professional insurance. Attorneys should always be insured against unfounded claims that are related to insufficient professional competence, and the size of the insurance should be set within reasonable limits. It is important to note that the laws of other European countries trace the principles of the autonomy of the legal profession, independence, exclusivity, self-government and self-financing.

Capitalism in Green Disguise: The Political Economy of Organic Farming in the European Union

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 830-852
Author(s):  
Charalampos Konstantinidis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Family Farm ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Organic Farms ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Large Farm

Following the post-1992 Common Agricultural Policy, organic farming has expanded rapidly in the European Union. This growth is often considered evidence of the success of a distinctive model of small-scale family-farm agriculture. However, I show that European organic farms display features (large farm size, low labor intensity, high prevalence of mechanization, and adoption of monocultures) that are characteristic of capitalist rather than peasant farms. These features raise doubts about whether European organic farming exemplifies repeasantization. JEL Classification: B50, O13, Q18

scholarly journals Nationel identitet i globaliseringenstid

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gundelach
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Regional Identity ◽  
National Identities ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Local Identity ◽  
Boundary Maintenance ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level ◽  
Near Future

National Identity in Times of Globalisation Theories of globalisation and individualisation argue that the role of the nation state is diminishing and that consequently national identity is losing importance for the individual. Based on general observations and surveys, this article suggests that national identity is still very important – at least in Denmark. Survey data for Denmark, for instance, shows that national pride has increased during the last 20 years. The Danish population also seems to have a high level of chauvinistic attitudes. The national identity is a taken for granted “banal” nationalism that has developed over more than 100 years. This type of national identity is maintained through symbols and societal institutions, and is integrated in the individual’s worldview. National identities consist of boundary maintenance as well as “cultural stuff”. Boundary maintenance in Denmark is especially strong when compared to Sweden, but Danes also seem to have generally positive sentiments towards the populations in Norway and Sweden. Thus they express a sort of vague fee-ling of Scandinavian identity. Recent attempts at creating a regional identity from above by the European Union have not proven successful, and are not likely to succeed in the near future. Local identity is becoming more important to most Danes.

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