The protection of the qualitative aspects of agricultural land is in the interests of both Slovakia and the European Union. Several policy documents have emerged in the European Union over the last ...few years, however, they have not been legally binding, as the EU Member States refuse all binding legal acts in this area. Therefore, solving the problem of agricultural land protection is left to the exclusive competence of the EU Member States. On the other hand, problems related to agricultural land cross the borders of states and that is why the Department of Law, Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra submitted an international research project under the Erasmus + program, Key Action 3: Jean Monnet entitled “Central European Initiative on Agricultural Land Protection”. The aim is to strengthen the dialogue between key stakeholders in the protection of agricultural land in Central Europe what will have a positive impact on the achievement of the EU agri-environmental and food policy objectives.
The traditional form of land management in Slovakia was represented by common lands and regulated by the legal form of urbariates or composite sorates, later reintroduced in the form of land ...associations. The aim of the article is to evaluate the transformation processes of the common lands and identify its contribution to community resilience against land conflicts by interviews realized among selected land associations. The results of the research point to the lack of motivation of owners of land associations to efficiently and sustainably use common land, which mostly becomes objects of rent with the view of quick profit. At the conclusion, we propose a set of measures that we recommend the state to apply in order to unify and streamline the activities of land associations in Slovakia.
Agri-environment measures are a key element for the integration of environmental concerns into the Common Agricultural Policy. They are designed to encourage farmers to protect and enhance the ...environment on their farmland by paying them for the provision of environmental services. Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020 introduced an agri-environmental measure for multifunctional field margins (biostrips on arable land), which contributes to increasing biodiversity, to protection of basic environmental elements and it also serves as prevention for climate change. Since so far no farmer asked the Agricultural Paying Agency for commitment, the objective of the paper was to assess the design and accuracy of calculation of the agri-environmental and climatic measure - the multifunctional field margins in the conditions of Slovakia. The research results show that the calculation methodology is incorrectly set and it does not compensate for the farmer’s loss on farm yields.
In Slovakia, the large-scale acquisition of agricultural land in combination with land concentration represents a legitimate threat that can lead to land grabbing. Based on the research, two ...interrelated areas of protection need to be effectively regulated to limit land grabbing: the protection of access to land and the protection of agricultural land. Due to the absence of relevant data analysis regarding this issue, the main aim of the study was to analyse the emergence of land concentration in Slovakia based on historical and cultural factors and to evaluate the current legislative and institutional framework of both aspects of land protection with a possible impact on the successively graduating threat of land grabbing. In particular, analytical methods were used, presenting the data from secondary literature sources, a questionnaire survey, and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Slovakia. The research shows that although the state has adopted the necessary legal framework for the protection of property rights to agricultural land, it is not possible to enforce it, as the institutional framework for its implementation is absent. It is also the state’s malfunctioning land protection regulatory mechanism and the absence of indirect action instruments that may be key indicators leading to the processes of industrial agriculture. Therefore, the adoption of legislation limiting agricultural land acquisition is important, but the processes of land grabbing presume the state’s complex provision of a regulatory mechanism and adoption of strategic measures aimed at sustainable land quality and food security.
Globalization and the pressure to increased industrial agriculture result in deterioration of the environment, climate change and a serious threat to human and animal health. Soil contamination ...affected by the environmental pollution is one of the most pressing issues in the political and expert debate on food safety within the related EU policies as Common Agricultural Policy, EU agri-environmental, EU food policy and EU health policy.
Protecting the qualitative aspect of the agricultural land is in the interest of European Union policies and Slovakia as well. The EU adopted in 2006 a Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection to ensure ...protection and sustainable use of land, including agricultural land. The aim of this paper is to analyze and evaluate legislation protecting agricultural land in the context of the implementation of the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection in Slovakia. The basic legislation for the protection of agricultural land in Slovakia is the Act No. 220/2004 Coll. on the conservation and use of agricultural land and amending Act No. 245/2003 Coll. concerning integrated pollution prevention and control and amending certain laws, as amended, which provides a basic framework for conservation of the agricultural land. In terms of preserving, agricultural land has significant importance in the Common Agricultural Policy -pillar I and II which stipulate cross-compliance requirements, requirements for agri-environmental measures for applicants for single area payment scheme, for applicants for support under agri-environmental measures respectively.
Soil quality issues, together with issues related to healthy food, are becoming key areas of interest at the European level. Both spheres play an important role in the formulation of EU policies such ...as the EU Common Agricultural Policy, EU Agri–environmental Policy, EU Food Policy but also EU Health Policy. For this reason, deepening knowledge and exchanging experiences in these areas seem to be necessary preconditions for finding ways to respond to current challenges and problems. The project “Quality Soil as a Pathway to Healthy Food in the EU”, acronym FOODIE, also reacts on the mentioned issues. The main aim of the project is to foster an expertise dialogue between the crucial experts (academics, public authorities, professionals from practice) in the field of food/feed management in the EU affecting the achieving the objectives of correlated EU policies and recently adopted European Green Deal.
The presented paper is of a disseminating nature and aims to acquaint the reader with the mentioned project.
The conflict of interests in agricultural land use based on the diversity of needs of private and public interest is the main problem of the current protection of agricultural land in Slovakia. ...Therefore, the aim of the paper is to identify factors affecting the withdrawal of agricultural land, i.e., conversion of the agricultural land to non-agricultural purposes, and to initiate a professional discussion on the concept of protection and use of the agricultural land in Slovakia. Through panel regression models, the developmental, territorial, and legislative factors affecting land withdrawal for the purpose of housing, industry, transport, mining, and other purposes were analyzed. Research has shown that developmental factors, compared to legislative ones, affect the total volume of agricultural land withdrawn in bigger scope. From the perspective of the conflict of interests between the individuals and state regarding land protection, the private interest prevails over the public one. As a consequence, agricultural land is withdrawn in suburbanized and attractive areas, where the land of the highest quality is mostly located. In accordance with the precautionary principle, the state should adopt a long-term conceptual document defining the areas of agricultural land use taking into account the impact of the developmental factors on the land protection.
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