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Article Excerpt
Abstract
In the European Union (EU), two major recent changes have been framing the development of agricultural regulation. First, a decentralization trend can be observed in most of the member states, resulting from both national and EU policies: the modernization of state apparatus combines with the 'subsidiarity' principle of the EU which assumes that policy decisions have to be decentralized as much as is rationally and functionally possible. Second, changes in agricultural policies, shifting from market support to rural development (the 'Second Pillar' of the CAP) and then to multiple forms of support for the multifunctionality of agriculture, are resulting in a renewed policy framework, generally directed by the EU and implemented differently in the member states and regions. A cross-examination of these parallel trends is necessary to answer some basic questions, mainly: is there a change in the regional frameworks which organize the regulation of agriculture? What kind of differences can be observed in several European regions and how can these differences be explained? What is the particular shape of this evolution in the regions of a semi-centralized country like France? To answer these questions, field and institutional data have been collected in several European regions: Rhone-Alpes (France) as a central reference for the analysis, and other regions located in Germany, Spain and the United-Kingdom.
The implementation of European policies in the regions and the creation of specific regional policies show that the regionalization process actually results in a growing involvement of the regions in the regulation of agriculture. This process must be accurately analyzed because of the major issues which are at stake: increasing risks of new inequalities in the EU, an uncertain future for sector policies, the possible shift from a Europe 'of the states' to a Europe 'of the regions', and the possible evolution and diversity of support for the multifunctionality of agriculture. Even in France, where the regions have little power to influence agricultural policies, their role is real and growing. Yet generally, beyond regionalist discourses, the European regions do not always appear to be a key level for the coherence of multilevel policies. The regional level often tries to integrate rural development, agro-environment and most territory-centred regulations, but in many cases it does not represent a coherent level of general regulation. A good example can be observed in the support for and marginalization of agricultural pluri-activity at regional level.
In highly decentralized regions of federal (Germany) or quasi-federal (Spain, UK) countries, the regions play a key role in implementing both sector ('First Pillar') and rural ('Second Pillar') policies. This results in extensive diversification of regional policies, primarily for the implementation of the EU Rural Development Policy (RDR regulation): the EU, State and Region financial support and institutional reorganization are oriented either towards support to farmers, in a close relationship with the dominant farmers' unions as in the past, or towards more innovative policies centred around new actors involved in rural development, and organized through new local institutions.
Consequently, the diversification of policies at the basic political level of regions (and of 'departments' in some countries) results in opposing trends which shape different policy models in Europe. The determining factors of this dichotomy are: i) the huge inequality of regions' resources and especially of those available for agricultural policies; and ii) the ability of every region to decentralize itself and to build sub-regional regulation levels.
Decentralization appears to be a new and growing part of public regulation of agriculture. This leads to a new pattern of relationships and competencies between the EU, State and Region levels. It would nevertheless be risky to overestimate the regional role. The region is frequently not the main regulating level. In France, even a creative and 'rich' region like the Rhone-Alpes plays only one of the regulatory roles, without really co-ordinating the supra-levels, the State and the EU, and the sub-levels, the departments. Moreover, diverse and sometimes contradictory regional policies shape a number of possible ways to develop agriculture, or not develop it, and to include it in new structures such as rural development and the multifunctionality of agriculture. Therefore, an analysis of regional policy trends is important, not because the European regions are ruling the new CAP (Common Agricultural Policy)--which they are not--but because they may be outlining future forms of involvement of agriculture in the general trend towards liberalization.
Resume
Cet article propose un regard croise issu de travaux sur les politiques agricoles regionales d'une part, sur l'evolution des statuts professionnels et les modeles d'emploi qui sous-tendent les dispositifs d'accompagnement (economiques et techniques) des exploitants agricoles d'autre part. Apres un rappel des enjeux politiques et scientifiques du debat sur la mise en place de formes regionales de politiques agricoles, l'analyse se focalise sur la region Rhone-Alpes : dans quelle mesure la region peut-elle etre apprehendee comme un niveau de mise en coherence des politiques publiques pour des objectifs sectoriels (agriculture) mais aussi intersectoriels (emploi et pluriactivite) ? Cette approche monographique est situee dans une perspective europeenne grace a une mise en regard des resultats rhone-alpins avec d'autres regions europeennes (en Espagne, Allemagne, Angleterre). Enfin, sont tires des enseignements theoriques et methodologiques de cette approche composite (monographies et comparaisons internationales, objectifs sectoriels et intersectoriels) pour saisir les enjeux actuels de la recomposition des niveaux d'intervention publique.
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Depuis les annees 1980, se manifeste dans l'Union europeenne (UE) la volonte de renforcer les pouvoirs politiques et economiques des regions, jusqu'a en faire un > de gouvernement (Bullman 1997). Cette extension des competences des regions (Trouve 2006) s'exp, lique en premier lieu par le processus de decentralisation mis en oeuvre par les Etats-Membres eux-memes dans un contexte de montee des idees regionalistes. Il resulte aussi de la conviction de la Commission europeenne que l'efficacite de certaines politiques communautaires (Politique agricole commune, developpement rural, cohesion) serait amelioree si leur mise en oeuvre reposait davantage sur les echelons infra nationaux (discours sur la revision a mi-parcours de la PAC de 2003, propositions de reforme de la politique de cohesion 2004). Ceci se traduit par une nouvelle repartition des competences et une modification des relations entre echelon communautaire et collectivites regionales et conduit a s'interroger sur le renforcement progressif des politiques regionales et sur leurs perspectives d'evolution (Perraud 2001; BerrietSolliec et Dauce 2001 ; Berriet-Solliec et al 2006).
Cet accent mis sur la...
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