The rural areas in Bulgaria cover more then 80% of the country territory and account for about 29% of the population. Their development depends strongly on agricultural sector. The paper examines structural changes in agriculture, labour market situation in rural areas and presents the main...

In the last hundred years, great changes have taken place in the farming systems all over the world. They were economically driven and beneficial but they also lead to a range of negative side effects. At the same time consumer awareness regarding food quality and safety grew, together with...

The market of organic products in Bulgaria enlarged significantly in the last few years. Although the share of organic food products in general food market in the country is relatively small-less than 5 %, the total area under organic products in Bulgaria/cultivated and wild collected/ is more...

The New Member States did not yet have to implement the full cross-compliance package. Currently the GEAC requirements in the conditionality clause for the direct payments. The SMRs will become part of it starting from 2009. This paper looks into the Polish case and looks whether timely...

The introduction of cross-compliance mechanism in the European Union with its 2003 CAP-reform might affect the costs of production and thus competitiveness of the EU. Little evidence is available to asses the costs of compliance with regulations and it implication for trade. In this study a farm...

The new EU Animal Health Strategy suggests a shift in emphasis away from control towards prevention and surveillance activities for the management of threats to animal health. The optimal combination of these actions will differ among diseases and depend on largely unknown and uncertain costs...