Efekti integrisanja ekoloških mera u zajedničku poljoprivrednu politiku Evropske Unije

Abstract

The immense attention that has been given to environmental issues in recent years can be attributed to a large amount of scientific evidence, according to which the existing and projected patterns of economic activities cause its degradation, which in turn questions the future of these economic activities. Development in the 21st century should be based on the rational use of natural resources, with minimal reversible damage to the environment. The development understood in this way is the starting point of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy. Appropriate environmental measures have been prescribed for the realization of the planned developmental path, with the obligation to implement and adhere to them gaining more importance. Since its establishment, the Common Agricultural Policy has not focused on the environmental impact of agricultural production. More precisely, the possible environmental consequences of agricultural production on the environment had not been considered, which in turn led to significant problems. The problems that arose were the basis for the development of the environmental policy which defined the principles, measures and determinants for environmental protection and its improvement in the course of time. The analysis of measures and tools in the field of environmental protection, which are an integral part of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy, was performed in order to point out their importance through reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy in preventing risks of environmental degradation and improving agroecosystem sustainability. In the part of the dissertation related to empirical research, in terms of agricultural development and environmental quality, the degree of interdependence of ecological and economic performances of agricultural production at the level of the EU member countries was analyzed. The EU countries have been classified into homogeneous groups through cluster analysis, according to the achieved level of environmental performance, thus showing the position of the countries between groups in relation to the achieved environmental performance, highlighting the recommendations for further direction of agricultural production and actions in combating climate change which is, needless to say, harmful to the environment. Based on the analysis of predictions of future values and the extent of environmental consequences, climate change has been recognized as an environmental indicator with the most influential negative impact on the environment.