Cost effectiveness of some environmental projects in agriculture in Poland and the EU countries

The cost effectiveness of the Polish ‘Environmental Protection in Rural Areas’ (EPRA) project financed from both Polish and international sources is compared to the effectiveness of several projects in the EU countries. The main objective of the compared projects was to reduce nitrogen compounds emissions to the environment, in particular to surface and ground waters. Effectiveness in the Polish project, if measured by the reduction of emissions to the ground was close to the effectiveness in three British projects (Nitrate Sensitive Areas Scheme, Nitrate Vulnerable Zone in the river Ythan catchment and in the whole of Scotland), though much smaller than in the Danish Skjern River Restoration Project. The main reason for differences was not the country of implementation, but the difference in the technological measures applied for attaining the goals.