As part of the Access to Land Network’s ongoing work to document farmland access and land policy across Europe, two new country reports examine how land governance in Poland and Bulgaria has evolved since the post-socialist transition.
The studies were conducted in close cooperation with local experts and academic partners, combining legal, institutional, and socio-economic perspectives to better understand the tensions between market liberalisation, state regulation, and social justice in rural areas.
The Access to Land Country Report on Bulgaria explores how three decades of rapid liberalisation have reshaped the country’s agricultural landscape.
Following the dissolution of socialist cooperatives in the early 1990s, restitution returned land to millions of owners but created extreme fragmentation. In the absence of strong regulation, leasing companies, agribusinesses, and investment funds quickly consolidated control, often through opaque or speculative markets.
The report documents how this process has generated some of the most polarised land structures in the EU, leaving smallholders with little tenure security and limited access to support. It also highlights emerging debates around transparency, land-use planning, and agroecological alternatives. Bulgaria’s experience stands as a mirror image to Poland’s more regulated approach, underscoring the need for balanced land policies that combine equity, sustainability, and local participation.
Authors: Julie Litre & Jérémy Vial
Clinique de droit – Justice Environnementale et Transition Écologique, Sciences Po Paris
Under the supervision of Cécile Duchier
Tutors: Ève Aubisse and Manon Bajard
In partnership with the European Network Access to Land (May 2025)