Multifunctional Agriculture and the CAP in the Region Eisenstadt - Sopron

The new direction taken by the Common Agricultural Policy towards rural development, originating in the year 1992, was strengthened in the Agenda 2000 and re-intensified with the CAP reform 2003. Austrian agriculture followed this track very early and intensively, explainable because of the natural conditions and agricultural structures. Here Austria differs considerably from other Iron Curtain reference areas. Therefore the CAP reform will not have such new and strong effects as in the other parts of the reference areas of the EU 5 framework project IRON CURTAIN in Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary or Greece. The CAP implementation provides not only a large number of options to Member States but also many exceptions including a phasing-in schedule over several years. The evaluation of agricultural functions in the reference area Austria/Hungary shows the broad context in which the agriculture already contributes to rural development from a comprehensive point of view (environment, tourism) upon which the region’s sustainable development can be based. But it also shows a number of deficits in different communities, which indicate the required priorities for measures if the situation should be improved as elaborated in the scenarios for the reference areas in the IRON CURTAIN project (see also: www.ironcurtainproject.com).