Financing of Agricultural Pensions on the European Continent

Abstract

Supporting agriculture in Europe is important for many reasons: on the one hand, to secure food supplies, and on the other, to ensure the sustainability of rural lifestyles. But in recent decades, rural populations have also been affected by population ageing. Different agricultural pension schemes have been set up in European countries, taking into account the specificities of the agricultural sector. Pension funds have tended to be more important where the role of small farms was significant and the pension system was of the fully Bismarckian type. In general, they were not introduced where a ‘kolkhoz system’ existed in East-Central Europe before 1990. In our study we looked at the different forms that have been implemented. We have reviewed the changes that have taken place in recent decades and found that in some countries, states have supplemented contributions to pension payments by up to 75–85%. Our methodology involves document analysis and comparative assessment. We argue that it is worthwhile to encourage farmers to continue production on smaller farms by providing special sectoral support, career funding and pensions in order to meet social and environmental objectives.