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

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

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

Slovenia - macroeconomic contents Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

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

Farm structure Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Policy harmonization Budget expenditure for agriculture in 1992-2002 (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

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

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

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

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

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

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, 249.8 mio EUR from the EU budget have been allocated to Slovenia for rural development in the period 2004-2006. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

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

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