1. Slovenian Agriculture and the European union
Visit of students from University of Ancona,
19 April 2004
Slovenian Agriculture and the European union
Iztok Jarc,
State Secretary for EU Affaires
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

2. Slovenian Agriculture and the European union
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food
Slovenian agriculture
Accession Negotiations on Agriculture
Introduction of the CAP Reform
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

3. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food
220 empl.
18 empl.
202 empl.
320 empl.
154 empl.
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

4. Slovenia - macroeconomic contents
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

5. Slovenian agriculture
Slovenia - scarcely endowed with natural resources:
agricultural area - 44% of the country territory, 75% located in LFA
unfavourable size structure (average size of the farm is 6,2 ha), trends of improvement
agriculture: minor role in overall national economy –
small and falling shares of GDP (2,5% in 2003 est.) and employment (5% of active labour force)
however, agriculture important for rural development:
rural areas - 89% territory, 57% population in rural areas
agricultural output stabilised and growing
livestock is the major sector of Slovenian agriculture
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

6. Farm structure
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

7. Utilised agricultural area (000 ha)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

8. Number of animals (000)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

9. Gross Agricultural Output (1991=100)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

10. Self-sufficiency (%)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

11. Agro-food foreign trade (mio USD)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

12. Agro-food imports (mio USD)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

13. Agro-food exports (mio USD)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

14. Trade destinations (% of total)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

15. Policy harmonization
Budget expenditure for agriculture in (in mio EUR)
180
160
140
120
100 80 60 40 20
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
General services
Rural development and structural policy
Market price measures
Compensations for natural disasters
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

16. Transition – agricultural support (%PSE)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

17. Agricultural trade relations
Slovenia’s agricultural trade has been firmly integradted into bi-lateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements:
WTO agreement
Europe agreement – also substantial trade liberalisation
Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) - another step to trade liberalisation, however some import concessions have been on hold
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

18. Accession to the EU - negotiations on agriculture
Milestones:
in 1998: beginning of legislation screenings
in 1999: submission of negotiation positions
in December 2002: negotiation agreement concluded.
Objectives:
Full and equal integration into the Community legal order
Accession must not worsen the economic situation in agriculture
Resolving structural and developmental problems of agriculture
Updating the policy and other forms of sector management
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

19. Accession to the EU - negotiations on agriculture
Negotiation components:
Implementation of the acquis commounataire (legislation, policy, institution)
Requests for temporary (transitional periods) and permanent derogations from the acquis
Financial framework (direct payments, quotas and reference quantities, rural development)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

20. Pre-accession agricultural policy
long-term goals of the agricultural policy set in 1993 (Slovenia’s Agricultural Strategy) – similar to the CAP goals
so called ecological-social concept of agricultural policy adopted with stress on multi-functionality of agriculture
in 1999, reform of the agricultural policy:
new policy concept and the ways of goals attainment – as part of preparations to the EU accession
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

21. Accession negotiations on agriculture
Financial framework:
Amount and payment method for direct payments
Level of production quotas and reference quantities
Amount of funds allocated to rural development (EAGGF – Guarantee Measures)
Agreement:
progressive increase of direct payments
topping-up from the national budget to the following levels:
2004: 85%, 2005: 90%, 2006: 95%,
2007: 100% = equalization with producers in the current MS
in total, mio EUR from the EU budget have been allocated to Slovenia for rural development in the period
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

22. Accession effects – selection of direct payments scheme
Government decision:
2003: CAP-like standard scheme at EU level of 75%.
2004: no SAPS, but standard scheme (85 % level)
CAP reform introduction - first results of study in favour of
gradual introduction of regional single area payments
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

23. Future agricultural policy
Slovenia supports further reforms of the CAP
When introducing the CAP reform, Slovenia’s objectives are:
gradual introduction of the new system of decoupled payments,
prevention of redistribution effects and shocks for producers
set up of the agricultural policy for the next 10 years, which is economically attractive for producers and at the same time attention is paid to environmental and food safety issues.
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food