SAPARD
SAPARD (Special accession programme for agriculture and rural development) is the first grant programme of the European Union. The Czech Republic was able to use SAPARD from 2000 to 2006 until the exact date on which it acceded to the European Union. The SAPARD programme assists candidate countries deal with specific tasks and helps in the introduction of the acquis communautaire to relate to the common agricultural policy (CAP) and structural changes in individual agricultural sectors.
The aim of the programme is to contribute to introducing the law of the European Community in the area of the joint agricultural policy and to deal with priority and specific problems with permanently sustainable changes in the agricultural sector and in the rural areas of candidate countries. Another benefit of SAPARD is the opportunity to adopt the demanding regulations of European Union structural funds and the principles of programming, building the required institutions and preparing a legislative framework and the conditions for monitoring the SAPARD programme in the Czech Republic.
The benefits of grant support which the Czech Republic obtained as part of the SAPARD programme are mainly seen in the reconstruction and modernisation of animal production operations, the modernisation of storage technology, compliance with hygiene and veterinary standards, the renewal of ownership relations and anti-erosion protection as part of land modifications, the development of farm tourism in the countryside and help in preserving the cultural heritage in the Czech countryside.