Agri-Environmental Schemes in Switzerland

Abstract

This study analyses agri-environmental schemes in Switzerland. It compares Swiss schemes with agri-environmental schemes in the EU (specifically the ESA and MEKA schemes) and hypothesizes what effects possible Swiss EU membership might have for the structure of its agri-environmental schemes and its landholders. Davos has been selected as a case-study to illustrate problems and opportunities of agri-environmental schemes in upland areas, and to provide a baseline for comparison in a European context. Swiss agri-environmental policies show great similarities with those of the EU and, under current conditions, Swiss EU membership would not have a great impact. The on-going debate about Euro-compatibility in Switzerland has led to a fruitful discussion and questioning of internal decision-making processes, but the EU can also learn from the Swiss experience, in particular with respect to Swiss targeting policies. Swiss integration into the EU would reinforce the already existing trend towards renunciation of an essentially productivist farming ethos in an economic environment still largely free from the problems of agricultural overproduction. It would also further encourage farmers to adopt farming practices that are more in line with EU post-productivist strategies of reduced agrarian production, while at the same time still maintaining the strong Swiss emphasis on environmental protection.