European Union Policy and rural development

1.Knowledge and understanding: The course aims to develop knowledge of the economic and institutional framework defined by the European Union for the agricultural sector and the agri-food system through the study of the common agricultural policy, in its diverse forms of intervention. The role of agriculture, completely reconfigured by means of profound routes of technological innovation and strategic repositioning in the competitive dynamics of the economic system, have led to a growing interest and a radical overhaul of the entire system of policy making at a national, European, and international level.  Most recent changes and reforms of the CAP, which have brought a progressive reduction of public support granted to the agricultural sector, will be analysed in the context of the liberalisation of international trade in agricultural and agri-food products (via the enlargement of the EU to the countries of Eastern Europe, negotiations and international agreements, and trade negotiations of the World Trade Organisation).

2. Applying knowledge and understanding: the study of the discipline will enable students to acquire the tools of knowledge and interpretation to identify the role and perspectives of development of the agricultural sector in the overall socio-economic local system, with particular reference to actions for rural development.

3. Making judgments: the knowledge acquired will enable students to express their personal opinions on the nature of public intervention in agriculture, and on the capacity of the agricultural sector to contribute more actively to socio-economic development.

4. Communication skills: students will be given the opportunity to strengthen their communication skills through exposure to the problems inherent in the common agricultural policy with conceptual rigor and terminology, both through active participation in the classroom and through progress and end of course tests.

5. Learning skills: at the end of the course students must be able to recognise the conceptual tools necessary for evaluating the effects of agricultural policies on the markets, having also acquired the capacity to keep continuously updated on the evolution of agricultural policy, also through the consultation of databases and other information accessible on institutional websites suggested by the lecturer.

In the European Union, agricultural activity and, consequently, the industrial and commercial operations related to it, are strongly conditioned by public intervention, without which the primary activity would not be able to withstand the processes of globalisation. This course deals with the study of agricultural policies in Europe and in Italy, analysing the reform of the European Community’s intervention strategy that culminates in the policies of supporting prices and markets, and the novel elements in the evaluation of the territory and of rural areas, analysing the close relationship that agriculture has with the health of citizens, to food safety, the health of the environment, and the protection of the landscape.

1. Vieri S., Politica agraria. Comunitaria, nazionale, regionale, Ed agricole, Bologna, 2001.

2. Segrè A., Politiche per lo sviluppo agricolo e la sicurezza alimentare, Carrocci editore, Roma, 2008.

3. De Filippis F., Salvatici L., WTO e agricoltura prima e dopo la conferenza di Cancun, Quaderni del Forum Internazionale dell’Agricoltura e dell’Alimentazione n. 3 Ottobre 2003, Roma.

4. Nomisma, Prodotti tipici e sviluppo locale. Il ruolo delle produzioni di qualità nel futuro dell’agricoltura italiana, VIII Rapporto sull’agricoltura italiana, Il sole 24 ore, 2000.

5. Senior Nello S., Politica economica nell’Unione Europea, Mc Graw Hill Educational, Milano, 2016.

6. Teaching materials (available online on STUDIUM).