The political economy determinants of agri-environmental funds in the European Rural Development Programmes

In recent years, agricultural policies have expanded their scope to include funding for the promotion of environmental sustainability in agriculture. However, these policies have been often overlooked in the political economy literature. This article aims to investigate the factors influencing the allocation of funds towards environmental goals in the Rural Development Programmes of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy. The main findings of this study indicate a positive correlation between GDP per capita and the allocation of the environmental budget. Conversely, delegating the management of these programmes to sub-national polities has a negative impact on the budget allocation. Therefore, it seems that maintaining some central control over the budget allocation might favour the environmental sustainability of the agricultural sector.