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Good practice Imported

KOPOP — Slovenia's Agri-Environment-Climate Payments Scheme

Slovenia · Ljubljana · See the Slovenia profile · See the Ljubljana profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 64% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Slovenia's KOPOP scheme pays farmers under its 2023-2027 CAP Plan for water, soil and climate practices — EUR 519.6M budgeted, EUR 39M paid across ~190,000 ha in 2024 — though peer-reviewed studies found earlier versions failed to protect farmland biodiversity.

519.6 EUR million
KOPOP budget, 2023–2027
190,000 ha
Area under Natural Resources sub-measures, 2024 (2024)
39 EUR million
Natural Resources sub-measure payout, 2024 (2024)
29 %
Share of Natural Resources area under Water Resources operations
291 ha
Climate Change sub-measure area, 2024 (2024)
199,000 EUR
Climate Change sub-measure payout, 2024 (2024)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MKGP) / ARSKTRP
Period
2023-2027 (predecessor schemes since 2004)
Keywords
state PES, agri-environment-climate payments, CAP Strategic Plan, water & soil stewardship, farmland biodiversity

Context

KOPOP is Slovenia's Agri-Environment-Climate Payments scheme, run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MKGP) through the Agency for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development (ARSKTRP) under the country's 2023-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan, building on agri-environment schemes dating to Slovenia's 2004 EU accession.

Objectives

The scheme pays farmers for water, soil and climate stewardship practices, with EUR 519.6 million budgeted for KOPOP interventions across 2023-2027, co-financed up to 80% by the EU's European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

Activities

According to Slovenia's official 2024 CAP Annual Performance Report, the scheme's 'Natural Resources' sub-measures (covering water and soil stewardship) supported about 190,000 hectares and paid out EUR 39 million in 2024 alone, with roughly 29% of that area under dedicated Water Resources operations; a smaller 'Climate Change' sub-measure (livestock feed/ration measures) covered 291 hectares for EUR 199,000.

Results

Independent, peer-reviewed research offers a more mixed picture: a Land Use Policy study found the 2007-2013 iteration of Slovenia's agri-environment measures showed 'almost complete failure' to conserve species-rich extensive grasslands, citing absent pre-selection criteria and weak monitoring; a separate peer-reviewed analysis of 2008-2019 data found a negative relationship between CAP direct payments and farmland bird diversity, with agri-environment/greening measures showing only a negligible positive effect.

Conclusions

KOPOP nonetheless offers unusually strong transparency for a national PES scheme: it operates under a published, government-audited Annual Performance Report and EU Commission oversight, giving external researchers the data needed to identify and publish these very shortcomings — a governance strength even where ecological effectiveness is contested.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Very high (> €5M) — EUR 519.6 million budgeted for 2023-2027, co-financed up to 80% by the EU's EAFRD; EUR 39 million paid in 2024 for Natural Resources sub-measures and EUR 199,000 for the Climate Change sub-measure.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Current CAP Strategic Plan runs 2023-2027, building on agri-environment schemes dating to Slovenia's 2004 EU accession.
Staffing & skills
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MKGP), Agency for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development (ARSKTRP) administers payments

Conditions for success

  • EU co-financing (up to 80% via the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development) enabling a large budget
  • published, government-audited Annual Performance Report and EU Commission CAP oversight providing transparency

Common failure modes

  • peer-reviewed evidence of 'almost complete failure' to conserve species-rich extensive grasslands under the earlier (2007-2013) iteration, attributed to absent pre-selection criteria and weak monitoring
  • a negative relationship found between CAP direct payments and farmland bird diversity, with agri-environment/greening measures showing only a negligible positive effect

Where it fits

Governance type
national government scheme under an EU CAP Strategic Plan
Scale
national (Slovenia), about 190,000 ha under Natural Resources sub-measures
Income level
high-income (EU member state)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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