This document summarizes Switzerland's 2013 agricultural subsidy reform. The reform was triggered by missed environmental targets and free trade pressures. It was designed through scientific evidence and broad consultation. Key factors in its success were an alliance of economic and ecological interests, political compromise, and impact minimization. An evaluation found the reform achieved its targets but missed overarching goals, and recommended increased policy coherence, centralization, and training. Upcoming reforms will address pesticides and new issues like digitalization and animal rights.

1. Federal Department of the Environment, Transport,
Energy and Communications DETEC
Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
International Affairs Division
Agricultural Subsidy
Reform
in Switzerland
22 April 2020
Gabriela Blatter

2. Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
Context
• Agriculture important +/- driver for biodiversity
• Direct payment system established: general direct
payments and ecological payments
• Since 1990 several agricultural policy reforms incl.
introduction of environmental objectives
• Environmental targets & high economic dependence
2Agricultural Subsidy Reform • Swiss Case Study

3. Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
Policy reform and lessons learned
• Alliance of market-oriented and ecological interests
• Window of opportunity for a conducive political
environment
• Political and socially acceptable compromise
• Minimize impacts for «loosers» of the reform
• Influence of broad consultation and public participation
Trigger
• Free trade
encouragement
• Envt. targets
missed
• Parliament
Motion to
trigger the
reform in 2009
Design
• Scientific
evidence &
modelling
• Combination of
interests
• Broad open
consultation
Parliamentary
Debate
• Areas of
critique
• Slight
adjustments
• Political alliance
• Approval in
2013
3Agricultural Subsidy Reform • Swiss Case Study

4. Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
• The policy and its effectiveness has been evaluated
and showed the following results /
recommendations:
• Coherent policy with high acceptance besides
its complexity
• Targets achieved but overarching
environment goals missed
• More coherence between targets and goals
necessary
• High divergence between various cantons =>
need for more centralized approach
• Need for more training and consultant services
• Conflicts of interest within the overall
agriculture policy need to be avoided
4Agricultural Subsidy Reform • Swiss Case Study
Evaluation and its key findings

5. Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
Next steps
• Issues with pesticides, need for increase of effectiveness
• New policy reform (AP22+)
• Environment, consumers, social security, liberalisation,
digitalisation, animal rights, keep level of support
• Change in Parliament
• Impact of COVID-19?
5Agricultural Subsidy Reform • Swiss Case Study

6. Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
Further Reading
• OECD (2017), The Political Economy of Biodiversity Policy
Reform, OECD Publishing, Paris,
https://www.oecd.org/env/the-political-economy-of-effective-
biodiversity-policy-reform-9789264269545-en.htm
• Policy Paper (which builds on the report) focused only on
the case study
6Agricultural Subsidy Reform • Swiss Case Study