An institutional analysis of (un)successful agricultural ecosystem delivery measures in Europe

In response to the challenges posed by fragmentation of habitats and loss of native biodiversity, climate change adaptation and mitigation, diverse agri-environmental schemes (AES) have been initiated all over Europe, with the aim of fostering agricultural ecosystem service delivery. Examples of diverse AES include horizontal (between farmers) and vertical (between value chain levels), practice-based and result-based, collective and individual agreements. In the debate surrounding the eco-schemes under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform various questions have been put forward regarding how to make these schemes more effective. This raised the interest about the functioning of these arrangements in relation to their design and how that affects the implementation process. This paper aims to contribute to this debate by providing insights on whether and how different combinations of agri-environmental design elements can affect actions and interactions within the arrangements and, ultimately, enable (or constrain) implementation success of the measures. We are particularly interested in whether collaborative processes have been activated in diverse agricultural ecosystem delivery measures across Europe and how the design contexts have influenced the way the associated governance arrangements function. To date, such type of comparative analyses, including various design conditions and their interplay across cases, has not yet been performed for agri-environmental governance arrangements. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap, by adopting a comparative approach to study existing agri- environmental schemes that deliver different ecosystem services. To do so, we draw upon the Institutional Analysis and Development framework (IAD), developed by Elinor Ostrom. The paper specifically aims to explain differences in the degree of implementation success of the agri-environmental measures by analyzing the interplay of different design conditions across a number of cases. We undertake a comparative analysis of existing agri-environmental schemes across Europe that deliver different ecosystem services: enhancing nature conservation and water quality in the Netherlands, Denmark, Hungary, and Romania. The paper first discusses how we can think of and measure implementation success of the AES. Then, it builds up the theoretical argument on how the design conditions shape interactions within the associated governance arrangements and whether and how these ultimately lead to better outcomes. Finally, it applies the IAD to existing agri-environmental schemes and compares them across the design conditions identified as decisive for shaping implementation success. Preliminary findings suggest that the combination of the degree of inclusiveness of the associated governance arrangements, flexibility, collective decision-making and understandable information are conducive to implementation success of the agricultural ecosystem service delivery measures.