Agricultural Policy in Research of Croatian Authors of the 20th Century

Abstract

The expected Croatian accession to the European Union has once again updated the readiness of our agricultural producers to a market that soon awaits them. Current goals and results of agricultural policy measures are thus being reexamined, but also the policy’s development concerning the harmonization of entire rural areas with the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU. The current socio-economic changes haven't significantly altered the main objectives of agricultural policy (providing enough food for consumers at reasonable prices, and an equal standard of living for farmers), but they have just changed the instruments and measures of the states with regard to the economic conditions and political circumstances. In Croatian literature, the farmers’ position and life in rural areas have been significantly researched since the mid-nineteenth century. Results of many studies and in particular the given recommendations can still apply. Already in the early years, in many papers, the reasons for different positions of farmers of individual countries were indicated, while papers of the late 20th century emphasize the impossibility of mapping individual solutions from the EU to the Croatian situation.