Agricultural policy developments in the EU pre- accession countries - Final report

The study focuses on the changes in the years 2020 and 2021 and the developments of currently important topics, such as Covid-19, greening, and the approximation of agriculture and rural development policies to the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). [...] The overall aim of the project is to gain more knowledge on the progress of development of the agri-food sector in the Western Balkan countries/territories (WB) and Türkiye as well as on the approximation of agriculture and rural development policies with the CAP, to be able to better design the instrument for the application of pre-accession assistance for rural development (IPARD) in the candida. [...] More specifically, it updates the agricultural policy data and policy analyses for the WB countries/territories and Türkiye for the latest available years of 2020 and 2021, aiming to identify the recent changes introduced to the national agricultural policies in the pre-accession countries and their implications for the EU accession process. [...] Measures and budgetary support of agriculture and rural development The commitment that governments make in relation to the development of the agricultural sector and rural areas is defined within the strategic objectives; however, actual budgetary transfers to the sector and rural areas visualize the real priorities countries/territories make (Figures 1 and 2). [...] The share of the agricultural support in the total governmental spending varies between 1.2% in Montenegro, 1.4% in Albania and Türkiye, 2% in Bosnia and Herzegovina, around 2.5% in Kosovo* and Serbia, and up to 3.7% in North Macedonia.