The Evaluation of Negative Factors of Direct Payments under Common Agricultural Policy from a Viewpoint of Sustainability of Rural Regions of the New EU Member States: Evidence from Lithuania

The present study aims to determine and evaluate the negative consequences of the implementation of the direct payments financial support mechanism under the Common Agricultural Policy on the rural sustainability of Lithuania. Interviews of experts and a combination of the analytic hierarchy process with three different measurement scales and the analytic hierarchy process with triangular fuzzy numbers were employed in order to evaluate and rank the negative effects of the direct payments mechanism of the Common Agricultural Policy. It was revealed that high land prices, decreasing diversification of cultivated crops, land degradation, and financial indebtedness of farmers can be attributed to direct payments and these consequences have a significant negative impact on the rural sustainability of Lithuania. The necessity of using a combination of different evaluation scales and techniques was confirmed.