Experience of EU countries in legal regulation of agricultural land turnover between agricultural producers

Abstract

The article examines the peculiarities of legal regulation of agricultural land turnover among agricultural producers in the EU countries and identifies the areas for improvement of national legislation in this area. The study finds that international experience indicates that there are various models of legal regulation of land turnover among agricultural enterprises which can be effective if they take into account the specific features of a particular country and national interests. Almost every country in the world regulates such turnover in one way or another. There are countries with “hard” and “soft” regulation of land transactions between agricultural producers. However, almost every developed EU country gives priority to farmers who live in the area and run their own farms, as opposed to large agricultural holdings. Despite the fact that in the EU countries the legislation on the turnover of agricultural land between agricultural producers is based on different models of legal regulation, the positive experience of these countries should be used to improve the national legislation in this area. In the area of legal support for the use of land by agricultural producers, the national land legislation should pay special attention to granting pre-emptive rights to purchase agricultural land to farms, territorial communities, tenants, etc; provide for the establishment of a preferential procedure for the acquisition of such land and the granting of tax benefits; and define the limits of land concentration at the level of regions and united territorial communities or establish a permit procedure for the acquisition of land plots with an area larger than that established in a particular region or united territorial community.