지방분권을 위한 농정 추진 체제 개편 방안(1/3차년도)

Abstract

저출산, 고령화 시대의 도래 등으로 지방소멸 위기를 개선하고, 저성장 위기가 지속되고 있는 국민경제의 새로운 발전을 촉진하기 위하여 정부는 지방분권을 국정과제로 설정하였다. 이를 위하여 행정분권과 재정분권을 추진한다는 계획을 발표하였다.

지방의 자율성, 다양성, 책임성을 제고하려는 지방분권의 원칙은 농업·농촌발전을 위해서도 필요하다. 농업·농촌부문은 지역적 특성과 차별성이 크기 때문이다. 그러나 그동안 지방농정 활성화라는 정책추진에도 불구하고 지역여건을 반영한 차별화된 정책개발이 이루어지지 않았고, 중앙정부 위임사무에서 자율성을 제고하는 수준에 불과하여 농정성과 제고의 효과가 미흡하게 나타나는 한계가 있었다.

범정부 차원에서 추진되고 있는 지방분권은 지역의 농업·농촌발전을 위한 지방농정 활성화라는 기존의 농정목표를 실현하는 데 보다 효과적인 여건을 조성할 것이다. 따라서 앞으로 지방분권에 대응하고, 이를 적극적으로 활용할 수 있도록 농정추진체계를 개편하여 지역의 자율성과 지역선호에 따른 사업을 추진할 수 있는 방안을 마련하는 것이 필요하다.

Background of Research The Korean government is pushing ahead with “decentralization” as one of its policy tasks to improve the performance of the balanced regional development policy in response to a local extinction crisis and to promote the new development of the national economy facing a low-growth crisis. The objective of decentralization, improving regional autonomy and responsibility, is also an important challenge for the development of the agricultural and rural sectors, as the sectors have distinct characteristics and differences by region. Accordingly, regional agricultural policy was also promoted, but had limits due to low authority to make important decisions. Decentralization at the pan-government level will create more effective conditions for achieving this agricultural policy goal. The agricultural policy implementation system should be reformed to promote the development of agriculture and rural communities by responding to the implementation of decentralization and minimizing its negative effects. The reform means resetting the roles of and relation between central and regional agricultural policies, transferring agricultural policy affairs to the provinces, and changing the support system of government subsidies. Also, it is necessary to set up plans to establish cooperative governance between the central and local governments and plans to strengthen regional agricultural policy capacities.

Method of Research The methods of this study include literature review, field work, a survey, commissioned research, expert forums, and statistical data analysis. For the literature review, we used previous domestic and foreign studies related to the improvement of the agricultural policy implementation system and decentralization, and reviewed the government's relevant trends and materials including policy tasks and the master plan for decentralization. We visited and investigated agricultural policymakers in each province for the field work, and surveyed agricultural policymakers in each city/province and city/county. The number of the survey respondents was 138. Also, we conducted joint research with the ChungNam Institute to examine field cases more closely, and held five expert forums to discuss decentralization cases at home and abroad and their implications for Korean agricultural policy. Statistical data including budget management data of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) and local finance data such as Local Finance 365 were utilized to examine the current status of finances and distribution of government subsidies and local finances.

Research Results and Implications The agricultural policy implementation system is a relationship among actors who participate in the entire process of planning an agricultural policy and setting its goal and project direction, securing finances, implementing the policy, and post management. The current centralized system of agricultural policy implementation, a principal-agent model regarding the relationship, has limits in improving the performance of policy due to information asymmetry. To enhance the performance of agricultural policy, it is needed to strengthen each region's autonomous selection of projects and responsibility by reinforcing the decentralization of agricultural policy. The current agricultural policy implementation system has a limit in improving the performance of policy, because regional agricultural policy focuses on securing government subsidies, rather than implementing internal projects. Also, as many government subsidy projects are implemented with low regional autonomy, performance management has limits in regions that lack the local workforce for agricultural policy. Therefore, agricultural policy should also be decentralized, responding to the implementation of decentralization. If the State's finances are properly transferred to the provinces, it is required to enable the provinces to implement projects with autonomous authority and responsibility more actively, considering local characteristics. Decentralizing agricultural policy will be effective for the development of agriculture and rural communities. In the process, it cannot be ruled out that financial input for agricultural and rural policies may rather decrease with government subsidy cuts and in political relationships in the provinces. It is needed to strengthen regional agricultural policy capacities. In this aspect, major advanced countries' cases provide many implications for Korean agricultural policy. Although major countries pursue decentralization, they emphasize the central government's responsibility in the agricultural sector, with a focus on direct payment programs. The central governments divide their work into local agricultural policy bureaus and directly carry out the work, thereby not laying a burden on regional agricultural policy. Also, the countries show a tendency to implement agricultural policy projects at the integrated central government level, rather than subdividing them, and the implementation unit of regional agricultural policy has generally become bigger. From these research results, we present the following plans to improve the decentralization of agricultural policy in the first year of research. First, although it is needed to respond to decentralization, it is required to decentralize agricultural policy more actively as a new strategy for agricultural and rural development. With this goal, it is necessary to prepare countermeasures at the level of MAFRA by establishing the Committee for Decentralization of Agricultural Policy, identifying overall tasks, and setting up improvement plans. Second, it is needed to divide the role of agricultural policy between the central and local governments and transfer agricultural policy projects to the provinces by stages. Authority and finances should be transferred together with business. It is required to prepare a plan to transfer agricultural policy projects by stages by classifying them in terms of areas under the State's responsibility and regional autonomy. In the process, local agricultural policy bureaus can be introduced so that the central government is directly in charge of its agricultural policy. Third, it is necessary to practically merge government subsidy projects and expand options for the provinces. That is, even for projects that are not transferred to the provinces to realize the principle of decentralization and effectively respond to such problems as the shortage of regional labor for agricultural policy, government subsidy projects should be implemented. Fourth, cooperative governance should be established between the central and local governments and between local governments. It is possible to consider stipulating the Central-Local Agricultural Policy Council in the Framework Act on Agriculture and Rural Community, introducing the council, and examining agricultural policy quarterly. Fifth, it is required to introduce a system for strengthening regional agricultural policy and necessary institutional changes. It is needed to improve the effectiveness of regional agricultural development plans which are subordinate to the central government's agricultural policy plan, and to strengthen regional governance for the reinforcement of autonomous agricultural policy through farmers' participation. In addition, it is necessary to divide roles between provinces and city/county-level local governments.

Researchers: Hwang Euisik, Kim Soosuk, Kim Kyuho, Choi Jiseon, Kim Taeyeong Research period: 2018. 1. ~ 2018. 10. E-mail address: eshwang@krei.re.kr