The transition from 'socialist' agriculture to the common agricultural policy: the case of Slovenia

This article describes the changes in Slovenian agricultural policy in the period 1993-2001 in light of Slovenia's anticipated accession to the European Union. Agriculture in Slovenia is characterised by relatively unfavourable natural and structural conditions, which also explains its status as a net food importer and its relatively protectionist agricultural policy. The period of transition was also a period of thorough restructuring of agricultural policy, which was gradually brought into line with the goals and mechanisms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Even before accession Slovenia started to implement CAP-like measures, including direct payments and rural development policy measures. Slovenia is thus the only candidate country for EU accession with a level of support for agriculture comparable with that in the European Union. In its negotiations for EU membership, Slovenia agreed on the same level of direct payments for Slovenian farmers as received by farmers in the European Union, except that in the first period they will be largely covered from the national budget. As a result of the outcome of negotiations, the economic position of Slovenian farmers after accession is not expected to change markedly on the aggregate level, particularly if all the necessary steps are taken with regard to the building of an efficient system for the transposition of the CAP. Accession to the EU will, however, not solve the problem of relatively poor compeititiveness of the agricultural sector in Slovenia, which still has to undergo comprehensive structural changes and adjustments.