Farmers protest against the changes in the Law on Agricultural Land, Serbia
Description:
Agriculture is one of the main economic branches in the Republic of Serbia. The vast areas of arable agricultural land in the country are still state-owned. This land is leased out to natural or legal persons, with profit in agriculture depend on the area of cultivated land and not on the amount of invested working capital. At the beginning of 2015, the government suggested the amendments to the Law on Agricultural Land in order to ease a new foreign investment in agriculture. The most important amendments are: 1. Introduction of the right of first refusal to lease- persons with an “investment plan” will have priority over other interested parties in leasing up to 30% of the total area of state-owned land in each municipality for a period of up to 30 years (previously lease period did not exceed 3 years and leased area was restricted to 100 ha); and 2. Restriction of the right of lease for persons who own land. Such proposals provoked the protests by the farmers from the Serbian Norther province Vojvodina and several opposition political parties. They were worried by the fact that the Ministry of Agriculture will evaluate “investment plan” (only vaguely defined in the law) giving them unchecked powers to favour big investors closely cooperating with the Serbian authorities over persons who have already invested in agriculture. The state authority concerted foreign investments are needed given that not all state-owned arable land is currently in use. Despite the protests in front of the Parliament in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, the amendments to the Law on Agricultural Land came into force in December 2015. In addition, in accordance with the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), Serbia has the obligation to allow the transfer of agricultural land to EU nationals by 1st of September 2017 by further adjusting the Law on Agricultural Land. The law currently states that a foreign natural or legal person cannot own agricultural land in Serbia, yet foreigners can own agricultural land indirectly through locally registered companies. |
Basic Data
| Name of conflict: | Farmers protest against the changes in the Law on Agricultural Land, Serbia |
| Country: | Serbia |
Source of Conflict
| Type of conflict. 1st level: | Biomass and Land Conflicts (Forests, Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Management) |
| Type of conflict. 2nd level: | Land acquisition conflicts |
| Specific commodities: | Land |
Project Details and Actors
| Project details | According to the Minister of Agriculture, Serbia has 830.000 ha state-owned agricultural land, 30% of which is leased, while 570.000 ha is still unused. Lease of 260.000 ha brought profit of 51 million EUR in 2014/2015. |
| Type of population | Rural |
| Affected Population: | 15,000-20,000 families |
| Start of the conflict: | 01/01/2015 |
| End of the conflict: | 29/12/2015 |
| Relevant government actors: | Government of Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection |
| Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available: | Farmers’ organisations from Vojvodina, Nezavisna asocijacija poljoprivrednika Srbije (NAPS); Political parties: League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV), Democratic Party (DS), Social Democratic Party (SDS), Movement “Enough is enough” ("Dosta je bilo"); Agricultural experts and scientists. |
Conflict & Mobilization
| Intensity | MEDIUM (street protests, visible mobilization) |
| Reaction stage | PREVENTIVE resistance (precautionary phase) |
| Groups mobilizing: | Farmers Local government/political parties Trade unions Local scientists/professionals |
| Forms of mobilization: | Blockades Public campaigns Street protest/marches Occupation of buildings/public spaces |
Impacts
| Socio-economical Impacts | Potential: Increase in Corruption/Co-optation of different actors, Lack of work security, labour absenteeism, firings, unemployment, Loss of livelihood |
Outcome
| Project Status | In operation |
| Conflict outcome / response: | The New Law on Agricultural land was adopted |
| Proposal and development of alternatives: | Farmers’ organisations and opposition political parties asked for the withdrawal of the new legislation which they consider unfair to small farmers and creating the conditions for corruption. The protestors demanded a constructive dialogue about the law with decision-makers. Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Snezana Bogosavljevic Boskovic claimed necessary to bring big investors given that 70% of the state-owned arable land is unused. The protesters claimed the unused areas of land are of low quality for agriculture. |
| Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?: | No |
| Briefly explain: | Despite protests, the New Law on Agricultural land was adopted in December 2015. Further changes in favour of foreign investors are to occur in 2017 due to Serbia’s obligations under the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU. |
Sources & Materials
| Juridical relevant texts related to the conflict (laws, legislations, EIAs, etc) |
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| Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network |
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| Other comments: | The neighbouring ex-Yugoslav republics had to accept the similar obligations, however these range from exclusion of the application of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) to the acquisition of agricultural land in Croatia to Montenegro's outright giving of the national treatment to EU nationals Article 63 of the SAA regulates not only sale of Serbian agricultural land to EU nationals, but to the acquisition of real estate in general: "As from the entry into force of this Agreement, Serbia shall authorise, by making full and expedient use of its existing procedures, the acquisition of real estate in Serbia by nationals of Member States of the European Union. Within four years from the entry into force of this Agreement, Serbia shall progressively adjust its legislation concerning the acquisition of real estate in its territory by nationals of the Member States of the European Union to ensure the same treatment as compared to its own nationals." |
Meta information
| Contributor: | Jovanka Spiric, vankajo(at)gmail.com, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona |
| Last update | 18/08/2019 |
| Conflict ID: | 2555 |
Images |
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Farmers protest in front of the Parliament in Belgrade
The sign reads "Defend our land"
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