1. COMMENTS To Katalin Kovacs paper LAND AND USAGE STRUCTURES AND THEIR IMPACTS ON RURAL LIVEIHOOD IN CENTRAL EUROPE Mati Sepp Estonian University of Life Sciences

2. The concept of "structure" comes from the Latin and today usually means the set of mutual relations of the constituent parts of a subject or a system. In present case the structure is being treated as the inner basis of the system's way of functioning, specifically, the legal and economic basis of production and entrepreneurship in agriculture in the sense of forms of ownership. PHILOSOPY OF A STRUCTURES

3. FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT Clearly, the structure of agriculture is intimately related to many factors, including the organisation of rural society, the nature of financial institutions and their policies, the conditions of international trade, and the physical agro climatic conditions of production. Nevertheless, a fundamental element in determining the pace and shape of agricultural development is the framework of property and its ownership, particularly for agricultural land. The evolution of this framework, and the policies that guide it, are the subject of the former presented paper by Dr. Katalin Kovacs.

4. Agricultural restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe I should like to continue with author’s question: “What kind of agriculture we have developed in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and how these structures influence rural livelihood?” We are partly agree that production structures fundamentally different from that of the Western model in Central European Countries, but Baltic States have a little bit another development scheme. Main reason is the history of ownership formation.

5. HISTORY OF OWNERSHIP FORMATION IN BALTIC STATES. FIVE STAGES PeriodVelocity of changes Type of development Structure of agriculture Up to 1849 3000 yearsEvolutionaryFarming in communal and serf regimes 1849- 1920 71 yearsEvolutionaryCoexistence of manors and private family farms 1919- 1939 21 years (main changes in 1st 7 years) ViolentLiquidation of estates (manors) and rapid increase of family farms 1940- 1989 11 years; violent change in 1947-1950 ViolentLiquidation of family farms and formation of large-scale State controlled farms 1989- present Depend on the of land reform RestorationRestoration of agriculture based on inherited land property

6. The Present Farm Structures in the Acceding Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary Major difference between the Central European Countries and Baltic States are: -Cooperatives versus large scale private farms; -Cooperative ownership versus private ownership ??? - Farm size differences.

7. Farm size in CEEC CountryAverage farm size (ha) Share of cultivated land in size group below 5 ha Share of cultivated land in size group above 5 ha ESTONIA129%56% LATVIA129%31% LITHUANIA431%11% POLAND816%25% CZECH REP.1001%93% SLOVAK312%96% HUNGARY418%58% SLOVENIA646%8% ROMANIA258%19% BULGARIA419%75% TOTAL527%38%

8. Small Scale Farming and Rural Livelihood Main question for all small scale farmers in CEEC: How to survive in rural areas? - Rural development plans for 2007-2013; - Multifunctionality; - Direction for landscape preserving (environment); - Life style versus competitivness.

9. CONCLUSIONS Structural adjustment possibilities for large and small scale farmers; Rural life style support mesures; New CAP 2007-2013