European Innovation Partnership (EIP) is a new form of agricultural policy support for the development of agriculture. By establishing operational groups consisting of researchers, advisers and farmers, the programme aims at encouraging cooperation among the previously mentioned stakeholders when dealing with development issues in agriculture, focusing on the perspective of the farmer. The degree thesis presents the significance of knowledge and innovation for the development of agriculture, the forms of innovation policy and EIP as a special form of support. The Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR) has developed Agriculture, Knowledge and innovation system (AKIS), which initiated the knowledge formation, and transmission shift from linear to interactive and which serves as the basis of the EIP concept. The first two public tenders of the Cooperation measures of the Rural Development Programme for funding the formation of operational groups have been launched in Slovenia this year. The interest and the large number of applications clearly indicate that the public is highly interested in a different approach to the formation and transfer of knowledge in agriculture. The results of the interviews with the individuals who are actively involved in the formation of operational groups and the preparation of tender documentation reveal high expectations, but at the same time, the interviewees call attention to the numerous problems they faced when preparing the applications for the first tenders. On the basis of the literature review and the interviews with the individuals it can be established that the EIP programme is beneficial and therefore eagerly anticipated by the stakeholders. However, since the programme is a new type of agricultural policy measure, its success, and achieving goals depends on how swiftly the administrative obstacles are eliminated and on how efficiently the stakeholders are trained for such measures.
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