scholarly journals Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 7826
Author(s):  
Joanna Domagała

The analysis of the economic efficiency of agriculture has been the subject of numerous studies. An economically efficient agricultural sector is not always environmentally efficient. Agriculture is a large emitter of greenhouse gases. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that food production and agriculture are responsible for 21–37% of total global CO2 emissions. Due to the comprehensive assessment of the agricultural efficiency, it is worthwhile to apply to its measurement an integrated approach based on economic, energy and environmental aspects. These aspects were the main reasons for undertaking this research. The purpose of the study was to determine the economic, energy and environmental efficiency of agriculture in the EU Member States in 2019. The environmental analyses relate to the period 1990–2019. A total of 26 member states of the European Union (excluding Malta and Luxembourg) were selected for research. The sources of materials were Eurostat and the European Environmental Agency. This study was based on the Data Envelopment Analysis method, and used the DEA model focused on minimizing inputs. The research also adopts energy productivity and greenhouse gas emission efficiency indicators. The DEA model features the following variables: one effect (value of agricultural production) and four inputs (land, labour, use of fertilizers and use of energy). It was found that seven out of the 26 studied EU countries have efficient agriculture. The efficient agriculture group included the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland. Based on the DEA method, benchmarks have been defined for countries with inefficient agriculture. On the basis of these benchmarks for inefficient agricultural sectors, it was possible to determine how they could improve efficiency to achieve the same results with fewer inputs. This issue is particularly important in the context of sustainable agricultural development. In the next stage of the research, the analysis of economic and energy efficiency was combined with the analysis of GHG emission efficiency in agriculture. Four groups of countries have been distinguished: eco-efficiency leaders, eco-efficiency followers, environmental slackers, eco-efficiency laggards. The leaders of the classification were the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Portugal.

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 47-59
Author(s):  
AGNIESZKA KOMOR ◽  
BARBARA BUJANOWICZ-HARAŚ

The aim of the study was to identify and assess the spatial diversity of generating of animal and vegetal waste by entities from the agricultural sector in the EU countries along with the determination of the importance of this type of waste in total waste generated in individual countries. Statistical data used in the study were obtained from EUROSTAT. The research period was 2016, while the research area covered 25 EU countries. The data was subjected to quantitative analysis using descriptive and parametric statistics. It was found that animal and vegetal waste has the largest share in the structure of waste from the agricultural sector (accounting for 81.6% of all waste in the agricultural sector in the EU in 2016). It has been shown that generating of vegetal and animal waste in agricultural sector in the EU countries is characterized by spatial diversity. Most of this waste type was generated in Spain and the Netherlands. The dominant position of Spain resulted from significant share of this country in the EU volume of animal faeces, urine and manure generation. High position of the Netherlands was associated with a large share of vegetal waste. France, Germany, Slovakia and Sweden ranked next. Nearly 80% of all analyzed groups of waste came from these countries, which indicates a high degree of spatial concentration of the studied phenomenon. In this context, it can be stated that these countries are predestined to base their development on the concept of the bioeconomy. It is a challenge for the research and development sphere regarding development of innovative ways of managing agricultural vegetal and animal waste.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramona Pîrvu ◽  
Cristian Drăgan ◽  
Gheorghe Axinte ◽  
Sorin Dinulescu ◽  
Mihaela Lupăncescu ◽  
...  

The impact of implementation of cohesion policy on the sustainable development of EU countries is of great interest and presents a number of actual challenges. This research aims to evaluate the impact and the effects of the cohesion policy among the Member States using hierarchical clustering analysis in order to identify how the selected variables affect the sustainable development adopted models. The variables used in the analysis were selected on the basis of official data provided by the European Commission, SDG Index and Dashboards Reports and the EU Cohesion Monitor. The results of the research have led to the grouping of the 28 Member States in a number of six clusters, identifying performers but also those countries that have a high potential for sustainable development or which require increased attention to be sustained in recovering existing gaps. The results of the study can be a starting point for policy makers and other stakeholders involved in their efforts to support sustainable development through effective and effective policies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-98
Author(s):  
Janina Witkowska

The aim of this paper is to discuss new trends that have occurred in the policies of the EU and China towards foreign direct investment (FDI), to examine some implications of the EU‑China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) – which is currently being negotiated – for their bilateral relations, and to assess the role which China’s “One Belt One Road’ (OBOR) initiative might play in its relations with the new EU Member States. The EU established freedom of capital movement with third countries; however, the introduction of the common investment policy has encountered some obstacles. These are related to investor protection and ISDS issues. In turn, China is carrying out an independent state policy towards foreign investment with limited liberalization of FDI flows. The negotiated EU‑China CAI is expected to create conditions conducive to bilateral foreign investment flows, and it might bring positive effects for their economies in the future. However, the progress made thus far in the negotiations is still limited. The relations between China and the new EU Member states (CEE countries) are characterized by common interests in the field of FDI flows. The new EU countries are interested in attracting Chinese FDI and seem not to show the fears that have arisen in the old EU countries.


Author(s):  
Viktor Kozlovskij

Economic development and socioeconomic cohesion have always been an object of scientific research. In particular, this issue had become a focus of attention after EU enlargement in 2004 and Great Recession in 2007–2009. The above changes have given way to a certain slowdown in economic growth in most EU countries along with triggering a range of divergence processes between EU countries and regions. As a response to situation, the EU offered a Europe 2020 strategy, in which smart growth was mentioned as one of critical instruments to deal with increasing menaces. The objective of the study is to evaluate the progress of the main smart growth indicators (investment in research and development (R&D), employment rate and share of population obtaining tertiary education) in the EU over the period 2001–2017 within the framework of the economic cohesion concept. The paper seeks to explore the EU from different perspectives. First, the EU new member states (EU-10) and the old ones (EU-14) were compared. Second, the EU countries were divided by economic development level (calculated by GDP per capita in PPP): highly developed (H-7), medium developed (M-7) and less developed (L-7) countries. Finally, aggregate cohesion indices of all three smart growth indicators were calculated for the entire EU (EU-28). The research findings have revealed some interesting trends. First, each smart growth indicator’s progress depends on countries’ economic development level. Aggregate values for more developed countries (EU-14, H-7 and G-3) are always higher than the EU average (EU-28) and aggregate values for less developed economies are basically lower. Second, cohesion progress of smart growth indicators was influenced by economic recession in 2007–2009. It is argued that cohesion is evident in times of economic growth, but its progress ceases or divergence might occur in case of economic hazards. However, despite the expanding cohesion between the new and the old member states, a gap between certain groups of countries is even growing. This is clearly evident when the EU member states are divided into groups subject to the level of their economic development.


Author(s):  
Petr David ◽  
Danuše Nerudová

There still exist the differences in provision of VAT, in interpretation of VAT provisions and application of the rules in practice between the EU member states. Application of VAT during the supply of goods with installation to other EU member state, both during the existence of establishment in the state of customer and also without it, is considered to be one from the problematic field. Other discrepancies are created by inclusion of the sub suppliers, who can come from other EU member state or from the same state as customer, to this transaction. Questions of VAT application during the supply of goods with installation to other EU member state were processed by using standard methods of scientific work in the frame of five selected EU countries – Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Czech Republic.


Author(s):  
Oleksii Hryhorovych Korytnyi ◽  

The need for constant monitoring of existing practices to improve the efficiency of the agricultural sector and identify important guidelines for further development of this area.Using modern experience of EU countries to increase the efficiency of the national agricultural sector.Practical and theoretical issues of development of the agricultural sector and the use of existing practical experience in this field were considered by O. Borodin, O. Bublienko, V. Granovska, N. Karaseva, I. Klymenko, R. Kosodiy, M. Skoryk and others.Active development of economic processes in the agricultural sector requires current research on the existing practical experience of developed countries.Analysis of practical experience in ensuring the effective functioning of the agricultural sector of the EU.An effective direction of the transition to sustainable development of rural areas is organic production (regulatory principles are reflected in the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU). The institutional norms of the CAP EU act as a guarantor of positive transformations and a "substitute" for the interests of producers in conditions of market competition. In practice, the Council and the EU Commission are responsible for implementing the common policy. European policy for the development of the agricultural sector is funded by the European Agrarian Fund for Rural Development. EU countries use various mechanisms (subsidies, grants, state loan guarantees, etc.) for the development of the agricultural sector. The best results in the direction of sustainable development of the agricultural sector were achieved by countries that took radical steps quickly, decisively, comprehensively. The experience of the EU countries shows that it is also justified to limit government intervention in this sector, or to implement it through market-type mechanisms


2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mira Celin

It is not easy to gauge the extent to which the European Employment Strategy (EES) has influenced the EU labour market over the last five years but it has surely contributed to the creation of more than 10 million new jobs and 4 million fewer unemployed. However, is this common strategy the right answer for the labour markets of the future member states? This article examines how the candidate countries are adapting to the EES and where they stand as compared to the current EU countries in achieving the Lisbon targets. The article assesses whether the EES is appropriate for the labour markets of the future member states by analysing both the deficiencies and the positive elements of this strategy for these countries, taking into account proposals for a new revised EES adapted to the needs of changing labour markets, globalisation and enlargement.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noah Carl ◽  
James Dennison ◽  
Geoffrey Evans

To date, most accounts of the UK’s vote to leave the EU have focussed on explaining variation across individuals and constituencies within the UK. In this article, we attempt to answer a different question, namely ‘Why was it the UK that voted to leave, rather than any other member state?’. We show that the UK has long been one of the most Eurosceptic countries in the EU, which we argue can be partly explained by Britons’ comparatively weak sense of European identity. We also show that existing explanations of the UK’s vote to leave cannot account for Britons’ long-standing Euroscepticism: the UK scores lower than many other member states on measures of inequality/austerity, the ‘losers of globalisation’ and authoritarian values, and some of these measures are not even correlated with Euroscepticism across member states. In addition, we show that the positive association between national identity and Euroscepticism is stronger in the UK than in most other EU countries. Overall, we conclude that Britons’ weak sense of European identity was a key contributor to the Brexit vote.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Iveta Adijāne

The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) conditions apply to Latvia. Development of the Common European Asylum System impacts Latvian legislation and has an effect on the work of judicial institutions. Any European Union scale change affects Latvia. Common European Asylum System conditions in Latvia are being met by direct implementation of the EU instructions. Well-considered position and evaluation of CEAS conditions according to Latvian interests is necessary. Goal of this article is to review demands of the Common European Asylum System towards the member states as well as concordance of the Latvian asylum procedure with conditions of the Common European Asylum System. Objectives of this research is to examine development of legislation in the EU and Latvia, to analyse and compare current legislation of the asylum procedure in the EU member states as well as to analyse impact of CEAS towards the asylum procedure in Latvia. In order to achieve objectives, following research methods were used: monographic research of theoretical and empirical sources in order to analyse and evaluate various asylum domain information, analytical method in order to acquire legislative content and verities, comparative method in order to discover differences in legislation of asylum procedure in the EU countries, systemic method in order to disclose interconnections in legislation, descriptive statistics method and correlation analysis in order to analyse process of the asylum procedure and determine interconnections in the asylum procedure time frame between legislation and practical instances in EU countries.


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