The Role of Intermediaries in the Success of Electronic Claiming for Farm Subsidies in Hungary

摘要

The main electronic government service in the Hungarian agriculture created by the Hungarian Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (ARDA) (Mezdgazdasdgi es Videkfejlesztesi Hivatal; MVH) and the Central Agriculture Office (CAO) (Mezdgazdasdgi Szakigazgatdsi Hivatal; MgSzH) started to introduce electronic filling and submission of application forms in 2008, aiming to simplify procedures in connection with applications for area payments which are the basic elements of the European Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). Already in 2007 it was possible for clients (with more than 200 ha area) to receive this payments (SAPS) through the electronic form submission system. In 2008 every client has the possibility to create and submit his/her application forarea payment electronically with a PC.Although the internet penetration is quite low among Hungarian farmers, the majority of the documents (about 95%) were sent to the ARDA electronically. This process shows that the often mentioned "mentor", "moderator" or "social intermediary" approach isworking perfectly to narrow the digital divide and to make better public services. The authors present the whole practice and experiences of the successful electronic e-claiming system.