Challenges for agriculture in Poland resulting from the implementation of the strategic objectives of the European Green Deal

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to indicate the most important challenges for agriculture in Poland in the context of the implementation of the European Green Deal and the Polish Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy for the years 2023-2027. The primary tool used in the study was a comparative analysis of legal EU and Polish documents. This comparison was supplemented by an analysis of statistical data on agriculture in Poland, mainly covering 2005-2020, obtained from the Agricultural Census 2020, Statistics Poland, the National Centre for Emissions Management, the Agricultural and Food Commercial Quality Inspection and the European Medicines Agency. The results show that the Polish national targets for 2030 are significantly lower than the European ones but have been set, taking into account the feasibility of their implementation, which means that meeting each of the primary national targets in the agricultural sector will be very challenging.

Impact assessment of the Agri-Environment-Climate Measure (M10) of RDP 2014-2020 on environmental and climatic policies implementation according to the perception of Polish farmers

“…Mickiewicz and Mickiewicz (2015) found that even at the stage of constructing a support budget, the practices beneficial for the environment and climate were only planned to cover 19% of the country's agricultural land. Prandecki and Wrzaszcz (2023) emphasized that Poland's contribution to the achievement of the pro-environmental objectives of the European Union is significantly less than might be expected given the contribution that has been made by the entire EU, this can be explained by the lower development stage of agriculture in Poland as well as the limited possibility and legitimacy of the changes. Their analyses are in agreement with the data obtained in the part of our survey directed at farmers who did not decide to participate in M10.…”

“…Czyżewski et al (2020) found that CAP measures were more costeffective than local spending on environmental protection. Prandecki and Wrzaszcz (2023) used the available results of RPD 2005-2020 and other statistical data, including the results of the Agricultural Census 2020 (GUS, 2022), and noted that the fragmented structure of Polish farms supports biodiversity preservation, landscape elements, and reduced mineral fertilization through organic farming, given that 80% of farms have an area of up to 15 ha. Matyka et al (2019) evaluated the RDP in Poland from 2013 to 2018, including the activities related to M10.…”

Development and Effects of Organic Farms in Poland, Taking into Account Their Location in Areas Facing Natural or Other Specific Constraints

“…Currently, the area constitutes 9% of UAA intended for agricultural purposes in the EU and, when compared to the adopted strategic goal of 25%, it highlights the distance that European agriculture has to overcome in the coming years. From the perspective of the current development experience of European agriculture, the strategic goal regarding the development of organic farming is appropriate, and the direction of changes is consistent with the expected [53].…”

A comparative view of the level of agricultural sustainability – The case of European Union member states

“…Therefore, agriculture is a sector essential for transforming Europe and the world towards sustainable development. Concurrently, it is facing multiple challenges related to growing concerns about the degradation of the environment, food security, and climate change and striving for permanent economic growth (Prandecki & Wrzaszcz, 2022).…”