Projects / Programmes
Legal statutory definition of farmer and farm in Slovenia, including with economic, environmental and social measures
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.05.00 |
Social sciences |
Law |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S110 |
Social sciences |
Juridical sciences |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.05 |
Social Sciences |
Law |
farmer, agricultural economy, legal definition, tax policy, social program, retirement, long-term care, European policy
Researchers (10)
Organisations (2)
Abstract
In this study we will examine the status and legal regime of family farms in Slovenia, Austria and Italy and propose the necessary amendments to Slovenian legislation.
In the first part we will prepare a comprehensive analysis of already existing definitions of farms in Slovenian legislation and examine the consequences that these definitions have on various fields of law. We will present the definition of a farm for the purpose of implementing the common agricultural policy (CAP), tax and social, political labor legislation. We will conclude the presentation of the Slovenian legal system of farms and participants in agriculture by identifying farms for the needs of implementing social and pension legislation. As a basis for the analysis we will use the current Slovenian legislation in the field of agriculture, taxation, labor law and social protection law, in particular in the light of emerging legislation on long-term care, case law and expert articles in the field.
Afterwards we will prepare a comparative overview of the legal status and legal regime of family farms in Austria and Italy. In the preparation, we will focus on formal legal resources and expert articles on the topic of status and regulation of farms in these two countries and present a comparison of tax, pension, health and social care solutions. In particular, we highlight the problems of long-term care that Slovenia has not resolved yet; however, we aim provide concrete solutions. In doing so, we will develop a legal basis for a safe financial instruments that will enable social security of farmers through the utilization of funds for social security from the value of the farm.
Comparative legal review will be upgraded with the presentation of comparable farms from Slovenia, Austria and Italy. We will present various options offered by the law in these three countries to resolve various life situations. For additional explanations and opinions, we will also turn to the representatives of chambers of agriculture in Austria and Italy, which will verify the accuracy of our (Slovenian) solutions and will offer consulting about the benefits / burdens that the existing arrangements represent for farmers in Austria and Italy.
As a result of the research, we will present a proposal for amendments to the Law on agriculture, in which we will redefine the concepts of "farm", "carrier of the farm" and "member of the farm." In order to facilitate the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy we will also check the possibilities to amend the terms "agricultural economy" and "agricultural activity". We will examine the reasonabless of including the concept "farmer" in the Agriculture Act and the possibility of harmonizing regulations in the areas of tax, labor and social protection legislation including a new definition of the farm. We will propose a new article tied to this new definition to be included into the pension, health and welfare legislation, which will enable better social security of elderly farmers
Significance for science
In the past Slovenian legal profession has not dealt with in-depth status and legal definition of the farmer and the farm. Professional legal literature (with the exception of benchmarking to the employment and socio-legal position of farmers in RS) on the status and legal definition of the farm was not detected. Definition of the term "farm" was given by prof. dr. Karl Zupančič as an interpretation of the condition of ownership of the farm in the Act of Succession holdings.
The research results will contribute to systematic practice of the legal system of agriculture and its simplification, because the study deals with all major fields of law (tax, labor, social and legal), and its goal is to unify the rules of the various laws.
Most legal experts are less frequently faced with the regulations in the field of agriculture, therefore, this study will also contribute to greater knowledge of the legislation in the area of agriculture and problems that arise in practice.
Significance for the country
The research has a significant impact on the agricultural sector, other economy and potentially also on the state budget.
With the proposal statutory-legal regime of the farm will be defined: who is authorized for concluding legal transactions on behalf of and for the account of the farm. Currently, this area is not regulated, so in practice farm holders (or holders of farms) transact on their behalf and for their own account. Farmers (with the exception of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs) are not registered in the commercial register, which affects the legal certainty of persons who deal with them. Any implementation of the research results will contribute to greater legal certainty for both farmers as well as other businesses and ultimately persons who are employed on farms.
The research has a great potential impact on the financial and social situation of farmers. Our hypothesis is that it would be more appropriate that the cadastral income would measure from the land held by individual farms in operation and are registered in the register of agricultural land (t. I. GERKs). It might mean higher income tax for the owners of farmland using a foreign land (to the farmers genuinely engaged in agricultural activity) and consequently higher income. However, such a tax would be more in line with the actual situation, thus the farmers who leased their land and are not any more engaged in agricultural activity, do not have to pay income tax for basic agricultural and forestry activities. Since the conditions for the inclusion of compulsory social insurance and the level of contributions are linked to the amount of income from agricultural activity, a change in the method of calculating the cadastral income would also affect the social situation of farms and farm members.
The research will also affect the implementation of the common agricultural policy - measures of the pillars I. and II. The study will explain in details the foundations of the common agricultural policy and will present the case law of the EU Court relating to the definition of the farmer, the agricultural economy and agricultural activities. This will contribute to the fact that the decisions of administrative bodies on the allocation of direct payments and other benefits arising from the common agricultural policy consistent with European law.
Most important scientific results
Final report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
