Dictionary
Peasant – This term, used throughout history to denote agricultural workers on very small plots of land, often working in a subsistence manner, is a somewhat loaded one. It has been used pejoratively for centuries to denote people in the countryside who lack the cultural sophistication of city dwellers. For this paper, we use the term peasant as synonymous for the Romanian word “taran”, loosely translated as “people of the countryside”. In this paper we sometimes use the terms “subsistence farmer”, “semi-subsistence farmer”, or “small-scale farmer” to refer to different subsections of what we would refer to as “peasants”. We define peasants as people who are linked to the land, not just as an occupation, but as a lifestyle.
Subsistence Farm – A farm producing for its own consumption, which does not sell its products commercially. Eurostat defines any farm under 1 European Standard Unit as subsistence.
Semi-subsistence farm – A farm which produces mostly for self-consumption, but which does sell some of its products commercially, albeit not
European Standard Unit – The economic unit used in the European Union to decide how large a farm is. The equation takes the amount of activities carried out on a farm (hectares planted, animals grown), and then divides the activities by the standard gross margin (the cost of the inputs) to decide the economic size of the farm.
Common Agricultural Policy – The overarching agricultural policy of the European Union, started with the Treaty of Rome in 1957. It has been reformed several times since its inception, and currently takes up around 48% of the
European Union budget.
Pillar One of the CAP – The part of the Common Agricultural policy which focuses on production support including direct payments and market interventions.
Pillar Two – The part of the Common agricultural policy which focuses on rural development through modernization of
rural economies, diversification, setting up producers groups, and other measures.
LEADER – The approach taken in the CAP, as axis four of Pillar two, which stands for “links between actions in rural development”. It involves setting up local action groups made up of diverse local actors which are then given power to make decisions about the development of their micro-region.
Eco-Conditionality – The setting of specific environmental standards under the CAP which must be met in order for a farmer to receive direct payments.
Modulation – The process, specifically following the 2003 CAP reform, through which money has been redirected from farms receiving particularly large subsidies through pillar one into the rural development programs of pillar two as part of the process of bringing new member states in starting in 2004.
Decoupling – The process, within the reformed CAP, of unlinking the direct subsidies of pillar one from production. After decoupling, the subsidies are no longer linked to producing a certain crop or a certain amount, allowing farmers to better respond to market demands.
Top-up – The allowance, under the CAP, for new member states to provide extra funding for a certain period after accession, some of it from the money intended for the second pillar, some of it from the national budget, to add to the direct payments under the first pillar.
Co-financing – Under pillar two, many programs have to be co-financed, either by the local or national government, or through bank loans to the applicant. The amount of co-financing required depends on the axis.
EU-15 – The member states of the European Union who were members before 2004 (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, The United Kingdom
NMS – The twelve new member states added to the European Union in 2004 and 2007: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Cyprus and Malta (2004), Romania and Bulgaria (2007)
EU-27 – The twenty seven countries which currently make up the European Union.
SFP – The Single Farm Payment, the current method for distributing direct payments under the Common Agricultural
Policy. The payment represents a simplification of direct payments, decoupled from production levels or certain crops.
SAPS – A simplified version of the single farm payment which has been used by almost all of the New Member States for the first three years of EU membership, with a possible two year extension.
Utilized Agricultural Area – The total area used for agriculture within a country.
ESU “A European Size Unit (ESU) is a measure of the economic size of a farm business based on the gross margin imputed from standard coefficients for each commodity on the farm. The application of these standard coefficients results in the Standard Gross Margin (SGM) for a farm or group of farms. 1 ESU = 1200 SGM.” – capreform.eu
SAPARD Program – The program used for funding from the EU in states prior to their accession to the European Union (Special Accession Program for Agriculture and Rural Development).
Rural Development – The overarching term for efforts to improve the standard of living in rural areas. This includes infrastructure programs, educational programs, and other measures taken outside of direct payments.
Up-stream activities – A term used in agriculture to denote inputs (fertilizers, chemicals, labor) needed to produce a finished product.
Down-Stream activites – A term used to denote areas such as processing and marketing which take place after agricultural products have been produced.
NRDP – The National Rural Development Program. It was developed prior to Romania accession to the European Union in 2007 to demonstrate how Romania would distribute the money from the second pillar of CAP.
Food Security – The availability of food. Speaking on a national level, it denotes a state’s ability to produce enough food to feed its citizens.
Food Sovereignty – A term coined by the organization Via Campesina in 1996 which is defined as “Peoples’, Countries’ or State Unions’ RIGHT to define their agricultural and food policy, without
any dumping vis-à-vis third countries”.
Subsistence Farm – A farm producing for its own consumption, which does not sell its products commercially. Eurostat defines any farm under 1 European Standard Unit as subsistence.
Semi-subsistence farm – A farm which produces mostly for self-consumption, but which does sell some of its products commercially, albeit not
European Standard Unit – The economic unit used in the European Union to decide how large a farm is. The equation takes the amount of activities carried out on a farm (hectares planted, animals grown), and then divides the activities by the standard gross margin (the cost of the inputs) to decide the economic size of the farm.
Common Agricultural Policy – The overarching agricultural policy of the European Union, started with the Treaty of Rome in 1957. It has been reformed several times since its inception, and currently takes up around 48% of the
European Union budget.
Pillar One of the CAP – The part of the Common Agricultural policy which focuses on production support including direct payments and market interventions.
Pillar Two – The part of the Common agricultural policy which focuses on rural development through modernization of
rural economies, diversification, setting up producers groups, and other measures.
LEADER – The approach taken in the CAP, as axis four of Pillar two, which stands for “links between actions in rural development”. It involves setting up local action groups made up of diverse local actors which are then given power to make decisions about the development of their micro-region.
Eco-Conditionality – The setting of specific environmental standards under the CAP which must be met in order for a farmer to receive direct payments.
Modulation – The process, specifically following the 2003 CAP reform, through which money has been redirected from farms receiving particularly large subsidies through pillar one into the rural development programs of pillar two as part of the process of bringing new member states in starting in 2004.
Decoupling – The process, within the reformed CAP, of unlinking the direct subsidies of pillar one from production. After decoupling, the subsidies are no longer linked to producing a certain crop or a certain amount, allowing farmers to better respond to market demands.
Top-up – The allowance, under the CAP, for new member states to provide extra funding for a certain period after accession, some of it from the money intended for the second pillar, some of it from the national budget, to add to the direct payments under the first pillar.
Co-financing – Under pillar two, many programs have to be co-financed, either by the local or national government, or through bank loans to the applicant. The amount of co-financing required depends on the axis.
EU-15 – The member states of the European Union who were members before 2004 (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, The United Kingdom
NMS – The twelve new member states added to the European Union in 2004 and 2007: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Cyprus and Malta (2004), Romania and Bulgaria (2007)
EU-27 – The twenty seven countries which currently make up the European Union.
SFP – The Single Farm Payment, the current method for distributing direct payments under the Common Agricultural
Policy. The payment represents a simplification of direct payments, decoupled from production levels or certain crops.
SAPS – A simplified version of the single farm payment which has been used by almost all of the New Member States for the first three years of EU membership, with a possible two year extension.
Utilized Agricultural Area – The total area used for agriculture within a country.
ESU “A European Size Unit (ESU) is a measure of the economic size of a farm business based on the gross margin imputed from standard coefficients for each commodity on the farm. The application of these standard coefficients results in the Standard Gross Margin (SGM) for a farm or group of farms. 1 ESU = 1200 SGM.” – capreform.eu
SAPARD Program – The program used for funding from the EU in states prior to their accession to the European Union (Special Accession Program for Agriculture and Rural Development).
Rural Development – The overarching term for efforts to improve the standard of living in rural areas. This includes infrastructure programs, educational programs, and other measures taken outside of direct payments.
Up-stream activities – A term used in agriculture to denote inputs (fertilizers, chemicals, labor) needed to produce a finished product.
Down-Stream activites – A term used to denote areas such as processing and marketing which take place after agricultural products have been produced.
NRDP – The National Rural Development Program. It was developed prior to Romania accession to the European Union in 2007 to demonstrate how Romania would distribute the money from the second pillar of CAP.
Food Security – The availability of food. Speaking on a national level, it denotes a state’s ability to produce enough food to feed its citizens.
Food Sovereignty – A term coined by the organization Via Campesina in 1996 which is defined as “Peoples’, Countries’ or State Unions’ RIGHT to define their agricultural and food policy, without
any dumping vis-à-vis third countries”.
