SCARLED

The discussion regarding the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was and still is challenging due to the varying needs and interests of the old and new member states (NMS) of the European Union (EU). Until today, the NMS display tremendous disparities in most structural and socio-economic indicators compared to the EU15 average, implying that further sectoral restructuring is needed.

The Structural Change in Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods (SCARLED) project, which ran from 2007 until 2010, offers rich empirical insights with a specific focus on these processes in the NMS.

SCARLED offers three key lessons for CAP reform. First, it claims that a uniform CAP only partially addresses the needs of NMS. Second, the regionʼs agriculture still requires support to enhance competitiveness, albeit for a limited time. Third, the issue of small, subsistence-based farms in the region needs to be recognised. However, approaches aiming at poverty alleviation in such subsistence-based households, but also in landless rural households, need to look beyond the agricultural sector. The wider rural economy and improving education, as well as rural-urban linkages, need to be included in any poverty related policy approach, be it at the national or the EU level.

• Consortium Leader/Coordination: Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Germany
• Corvinus University of Budapest, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Hungary
• Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Romania
• LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), The Netherlands
• Newcastle University, Centre for Rural Economy, United Kingdom
• University of Ljubljana (UL), Slovenia
• University of Kent, Kent Business School, United Kingdom
• University of National and World Economy, Bulgaria
• University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Poland
• Research Institute of Agricultural Economics (AKI), Hungary

• The 6th EU Research Framework Programme

Related Publications

Buchenrieder, G. and J. Möllers (Eds.) (2009). Structural Change in Europe’s rural regions. Farm livelihoods between subsistence orientation, modernisation and non-farm diversification. Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Central and Eastern Europe, Vol. 49. Halle (Saale), D: Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO). (PDF)

D 2.1 Working Paper "Conceptual framework for analysing structural change in agriculture and rural livelihoods" (PDF)

D 3.2 Working Paper "Socio-economic, demographic, and agricultural patterns of rural areas in the new Member States" (PDF)

D 3.3 Working Paper "A typology of rural areas in the new Member States" (PDF)

D.4.1 Working Paper "Progress report – the survey instrument and results from pre-testing" (PDF)

D 5.1 Working Paper "A comparative analysis of structural adjustment patterns and determinants of structural change in five selected NMSs" (PDF)

D 5.2 Working Paper "Impacts of structural change and structural policies on rural labour markets" (PDF)

D 5.3 Working Paper "The interrelationships between demography, structural change, and policies in Hungary and Poland" (PDF)

D 6.1 Working Paper "Methodological approaches to analyse co-operation among Polish farmers" (PDF)

D 6.2 Working Paper "Development of small-scale farming in Bulgaria" (PDF)

D 6.3 Working Paper "The importance of subsistence farming as a safety net in the NMS" (PDF)

D 6.4 Working Paper "Analysis of farmers' cooperation in Poland" (PDF)

D 6.5 "The effect of structural change on subsistence farming and labour market – a case study of Bulgaria" (PDF)

D 6.6 "Determinants for, and barriers to, exit from subsistence food production: commonalities and differences among NMS” (PDF)

D 7.1 "A conceptual model on labour adjustments" (PDF)

D 7.2 Working Paper "Applying fuzzy theory concepts to the analysis of employment diversification of farm households: methodological considerations" (PDF)

D 7.3 Working Paper "The role of agriculture for overcoming rural poverty in Romania" (PDF)

D 7.4 Working Paper "A comparative analysis of rural labour markets" (PDF)

D 7.5 Working Paper "Employment diversification of farm households and structural change in the rural economy of the New Member States" (PDF)

D 7.6 Working Paper “Farm restructuring in Romania – rural employment adjustment with equity” (PDF)

D 8.1 Working Paper "Development of socio-economic and agricultural structures in selected rural regions in Austria after EU accession" (PDF)

D 8.2 Working Paper "Development of socio-economic and agricultural structures in selected rural regions in Ireland after EU accession" (PDF)

D 8.3 Working Paper “Development of socio-economic and agricultural structures in selected rural regions in Spain after EU accession" (PDF)

D 8.3 Appendices “Development of socio-economic and agricultural structures in selected rural regions in Spain after EU accession" (PDF)

D 8.4 Working Paper "Development of socio-economic and agricultural structures in selected rural regions in Sweden after EU accession" (PDF)

D 8.5 Working Paper "Development of socio-economic and agricultural structures in selected rural regions in the new German Bundesländer after the German unification" (PDF)

D 8.6 Working Paper "Rural transition experiences after joining the EU: Results of the case studies in selected EU15 regions" (PDF)

D 8.7 Working Paper "Measures to successfully manage rural socioeconomic change and agricultural restructuring in selected EU15 regions" (PDF)

D 9.1 Draft Summary Briefing paper "Best practice lessons in managing the rural and agricultural transition following EU membership" (PDF)

Questionnaire to prepare D9.2 "Systematisation and codification of the identified best practices in a user-friendly way on the Scarled web-site" (PDF)

D 9.4 "Best practice lessons in managing the rural and agricultural transition following EU membership" (PDF)

D 9.5 SCARLED Policy Brief "Managing Rural Development: Lessons of best Practices in an Enlarged EU" (PDF)

D 10.1 Briefing Paper "Structural Change in Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods: Policy Recommendations" (PDF)

D 10.2 Detailed Report "Structural Change in Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods: Policy Recommendations" (PDF)