Agri-environmental Management during EU Integration of Bulgaria

This paper suggests a holistic framework for analyzing the forms and efficiency of agri-environmental management; assesses evolution of market, private, public and hybrid modes of agri-eco-governance during transition and EU integration in Bulgarian; evaluates the impacts of EU CAP on environmental sustainability of Bulgarian farms; specifies major environmental challenges in Bulgarian agriculture, and suggests recommendations for improvement of public policies for effective environmental management. First, it incorporates interdisciplinary New Institutional Economics and suggests a comprehensive framework of analyzing the eco-management in agriculture. Second, it presents the evolutions of diverse forms of eco-management during post-communist transition and EU integration of Bulgarian agriculture, and analyzes their impact(s) on agents’ behaviour and efficiency. Third, it assesses the impact(s) of dominating system of management and the new public (EU, national) measures on the state of environment, and identifies major eco-challenges, conflicts and risks. Forth, it evaluates the impacts of EU CAP implementation on eco-performance of Bulgarian farms. Finally, it suggests recommendations for institutional modernization and for improvement of public policies for effective environmental management.