Law. Human. Environment

Legal paternalism in the activities of public authorities as a conceptual framework for the greening of agricultural policy

Oleksandr Kytsenko
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Abstract

The study aimed to establish the patterns of influence of paternalistic mechanisms of state regulation on the processes of greening agricultural policy in Ukraine. The study was based on a comprehensive methodological strategy that combined theoretical and legal analysis of the concept of legal paternalism with empirical methods for assessing its practical implementation, including the development of an integral index of the intensity of paternalistic environmentalisation measures, statistical analysis of the dynamics of key environmental indicators of the Ukrainian agricultural sector for the period 2015-2024, and systematic comparative legal analysis of regulatory practices of leading European countries. The developed index of paternalistic greening mechanisms for Ukraine showed an increase from 0.35 in 2015 to 0.62 in 2024, which showed a gradual increase in state intervention in the environmental regulation of agricultural activities, mainly through regulatory transformation. Statistical testing of the hypotheses revealed a significant negative correlation between the level of paternalistic regulation and the intensity of mineral fertiliser use at minus 0.72 with a significance level of less than 0.01, and a positive relationship with the spread of organic farming with a correlation coefficient of 0.65 with a significance level of less than 0.05. The regression analysis confirmed the positive and statistically significant impact of paternalistic mechanisms on the aggregate index of environmental and economic efficiency of the agricultural sector, with a coefficient of 0.43. The comparative analysis showed that Ukraine was in the phase of active convergence with European standards of paternalistic regulation, demonstrating indicators of 0.54-0.62, close to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe during their adaptation to the requirements of the Common Agricultural Policy, while the countries of old Europe reached the level of 0.75-0.8. The findings conceptually substantiated the objective necessity and practical effectiveness of state intervention in the formation of sustainable production practices in the agricultural sector, and practical recommendations included strengthening the conditionality of budget support through the implementation of the green conditionality principle, integrating digital monitoring and automated metering to improve control efficiency, introducing regulatory sandboxes for eco-innovation, and harmonising paternalistic policies with the polluter pays principle through the development of market-based

Keywords

state regulation; agricultural activities; environmental control; sustainable development; environmental legislation

Suggested citation
Kytsenko, O. (2025). Legal paternalism in the activities of public authorities as a conceptual framework for the greening of agricultural policy. Law. Human. Environment, 16(3), 28-54. https://doi.org/10.31548/ law/3.2025.28
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