Development of Eco-Schemes as an Important Environmental Measure in Areas Facing Natural or Other Specific Constraints Under the Common Agriculture Policy 2023–2027: Evidence from Poland

Institutional environmental measures play a fundamental role in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023–2027, which primarily focuses on eco-schemes and for which the EU Member States must allocate part of their direct payment budget. The total budget under eco-schemes in the EU is an important part of Pillar I of the CAP 2023–2027. The aim of this study is to determine the capacity of Polish agriculture in ANCs to adopt practices under eco-schemes in the first year (2023) of the CAP 2023–2027. In the international literature, there is an apparent paucity of such analyses conducted for the newly designated ANCs in the EU Member States based on the European Commission’s guidelines under the CAP 2014–2020 and applicable under the CAP 2023–2027. Practices under eco-schemes are now fundamental for EU agriculture, increasing soil fertility, using rational fertilization and, as a result, improving the quality of products offered to consumers. It was pointed out that at this moment in ANCs, the use of eco-schemes is not satisfactory. The conclusions emphasized that in the EU, including Poland, eco-schemes should be implemented by as many farmers as possible, regardless of the size of the farm they have and the natural conditions in which they carry out agricultural production.