Analysis of the agricultural and rural development policies of the Western Balkan countries

This report was prepared by a team of academic experts from Western Balkan (WB) countries coordinated by the Regional Rural Development Standing Working Group (SWG) in South-East Europe. The study targets EU candidate and potential candidate countries from the Western Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo*). The main objectives of the study is the monitoring and evaluation of agricultural policies in the period 2012-2014 and assessment of the related key EU integration issues of the region. The study also outlines policy recommendation relevant in the wider regional context of the agricultural sector development as well as with respect to the region's EU integration process. The study results reveal that no major shifts in production and farm structure took place in the region in the study period, however, some expansion of WB agricultural trade, which are mainly a result of stronger exports, are reported. All study countries have prepared and most have also adopted a new strategic framework for the future of agricultural policies with more elaborated focus on EU harmonisation process. However, there were not observed pronounced changes in the actual structure and the volume of budgetary transfers related to agricultural policies in the region in the study period 2013-2015. Compared with the support granted under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in EU, the total budgetary support in WBs is still relatively low. Direct payments linked to specific production sectors (coupled support) are the main type of agricultural support implemented in WB countries. The type of direct payments and supported sectors are under constant adjustment. However, the policy instruments' alignment of WB countries to CAP-like policy is limited. As a general rule, agricultural budgets are not development-oriented. The institutional limitations in the implementation of the IPARD pre-accession support, the lack of clear action plans for policy reforms and the absence of the evidence based policy approach to policy-making are a few areas constraining a better design and implementation of agricultural policies in WB and for which policy recommendations and future tasks are outlined in this study