11/04/2005– The future
of the European countryside is in jeopardy
due to a lack of funding, an alliance [1]
of European young farmers, organic farmers’
organisations and NGOs has warned.
In a letter to EU Finance Ministers ahead
of their meeting tomorrow, the alliance calls
on them to boost the budget for the rural
development fund (EAFRD – the European Agricultural
Fund for Rural Development) in order to help
promote the competitiveness of rural areas
and stop the further degradation of Europe’s
countryside [2].
The Commission’s current proposal for the
EU’s budget allocations for 2007-2013 already
means an effective decrease of 3% in rural
development funding [3].
Any further erosion of the contribution to
the EU budget will seriously hamper the EU’s
own plans to use the rural development funds
to finance new measures such as the protection
of Natura 2000 sites[4], a set of new forestry
measures, measures to improve animal welfare
and tools for economic diversification in
rural areas. Furthermore, it would reduce
the agricultural sectors’ chances of becoming
more competitive.
EU governments must increase the budget still
further to encourage farmers to make more
investments in order to improve competitiveness
and sustainability and to better the EU’s
chances of meeting its commitment to halt
biodiversity loss by 2010.
Any decrease in the budget would make it
harder for the EU to improve animal welfare,
ensure young farmers receive the help they
need to set themselves up in business and
implement the action plan on organic food
and farming. For this reason, the funds available
to rural development projects should be increased,
not decreased.
It is time the EU put its money where its
mouth is and came up with the funds needed
to achieve and respect its agreed objectives.
Not only are these funds necessary to meet
European citizens’ expectations for quality
production, but they are vital for the future
protection of Europe’s rural environment and
a living countryside with farmers taking care
of our rural landscapes.
Notes to editors:
(1) Signing organizations are: BirdLife,
European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA),
European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Eurogroup
for Animal Welfare, Friends of the Earth Europe,
International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements – EU Regional Group (IFOAM) and
WWF.
(2) The EU’s rural development policies are
part of the Common Agricultural Policy.
(3) The Commission’s proposal for the Financial
Perspectives allocates EUR 88.8 billion for
rural development for the period 2007-2013
at constant prices. An additional EUR 7.0
billion would be channelled into the rural
development fund from the main CAP budget.
(4) Natura 2000 is the EU’s main tool for
halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 and
covers approximately 17% of the EU territory.
60% of the surface area of Natura 2000 is
managed by farmers and foresters. The Commission
estimates the annual costs of financing Natura
2000 at EUR 6.1 billion. The European Agricultural
Fund for Rural Development is supposed to
be one of the major sources of Community financing
for Natura 2000.
