Significant current developments in rural law

The report summarises the most recent developments that occurred in Italian Rural law since 2019. It begins by offering an overview of the survey’s outcomes on the state of agriculture in Italy. The data show a fast-changing sector, where the number of small farms is reducing sharply, and is only partially compensated by a relative increase in corporation farms because a percentage of agricultural land has changed use. This is a preoccupying phenomenon for food security and the multifunctionality of agriculture. The rest of the report aims to portray the main structural changes that are concurring to reshape the Italian agricultural sector. Notably, the design and implementation of the National Plan for Resilience and Recovery; the provisions aimed at fostering the sustainable use of natural resources in line with the guidance documents issued as part of the Green New Deal; the measures adopted to strengthen the value chain and the position of farmers in it; the implementation of the CAP 2023-2027; finally, some institutional changes. The National Plan for Resilience and Recovery considers the agriculture sector in the double goal of fostering technological development and meeting climate objectives. In this perspective, a considerable amount of resources is devoted to agro-energies. The section illustrates the characteristics of the primary measures and the risks that this approach bears. The section related to the sustainable management of natural resources describes the follow-up of some comprehensive reforms adopted in 2018, in forestry, organic agriculture and seed law. An account is also given to the changes in the regulation of the management of wild animals. The need to strengthen farmers’ position in the value chain and to promote the ecological transition in a liberalized and increasingly competitive market has led to the valorisation of certain instruments, and their use by public institutions to leverage private actors’ organization and participation in achieving public goals. This is the case with a range of private law instruments, such as Supply Chain Contracts, District Contracts, and Network Contracts, as well as direct sales. The section illustrates how these tools have been incorporated into recent legislation. Measures to increase fairness in the value chain take the form of both the transposition of the Directive on fair commercial practices, the implementation of the CAP social conditionality, and the promotion of young farmers and women in agriculture. The report ends with an account of the main features of the Italian National Strategic Plan; the Constitutional reform introducing the principle of environmental protection, and the reform of the Ministry of Agriculture.