ABSTRACT
The Spanish agri-environmental programme under Regulation 2078 comprises two parts: one developed by the Central Government, and the other developed by the regions. Any analysis of the implementation of Regulation 2078 in Spain also needs to consider, first, policy-makers' expectations and, second, the reality of scheme implementation on the ground. At the time when Regulation 2078 was introduced, Spain had only little experience with implementation of agri-environmental policy, and the persistent productivist ethos that had marred implementation of agri-environmental schemes under Regulation 797/85 has continued to strongly influence the implementation of Regulation 2078. Undoubtedly, the pace of scheme implementation has also been affected by the highly variable administrative structure and expertise among different regional governments, available budgets, and agri-environmental interests of specific regional actors involved in the policy-making process. Overall, only first tentative steps have been made in the process of implementation of the relatively ambitious Spanish agri-environmental programme.
