The role of Pillar II in delivering environmental outcomes

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The role of Pillar II in delivering environmental
outcomes

• Vicki Swales
• Rural and Environmental Consultant

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The state of the environment

• Soil physical, chemical, biological degradation
• Air pollution, acidification, ozone
• Water diffuse pollution, over abstraction
• Climate global warming
• Waste impacts on air, water landscape
• Biodiversity loss of species and habitats
• Landscape loss of diversity character
• Cultural heritage loss and degradation

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Policy responses

• Compulsion regulation of land use and
  management
• Market mechanisms adjustments to prices and
  taxes
• Incentives payments or rebates for voluntary
  action
• Persuasion information, advice and
  reinforcement
• Public-interest ownership ownership of land by
  public bodies or trusts

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Pillar II of the CAP

• A rural development policy which seeks to deliver
  economic, social and environmental outcomes
• An EU wide co-financed fund with a substantial
  financial allocation
• A means of influencing the behaviour and
  activities of land managers

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The development of Pillar II

• 1970s - measures designed to support the
  improvement of agricultural structures
• 1980s introduction of first EU wide
  agri-environmental measures
• 1999 reorganisation of existing structural and
  environmental measures and the establishment of
  Pillar II
• 2005 measures refocused into European
  Agricultural Fund for Rural Development

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New policy framework
EU rural development strategy
LEADER Axis
Axis 1 Competitiveness of agriculture
forestry sector
Axis 2 Land management Environment
Axis 3 Rural economy Quality of life in
rural areas
Single programming, management, monitoring and
control system
European Agricultural Fund Rural Development
Source European Commission, DG Agriculture
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EU rural development strategy

• Sets the priorities for rural development, based
  on Göteborg sustainability goals and renewed
  Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs
• Introduces strategic guidelines for
• Improving the competitiveness of the agricultural
  and forestry sector
• Improving the environment and the countryside
• Improving the quality of life in rural areas and
  encouraging diversification of the rural economy
• Building local capacity for employment and
  diversification
• Ensuring consistency in programming
• Complementarity between community instruments

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EU rural development strategy

• Environmental priorities are
• Biodiversity and the preservation and development
  of high nature value farming and forestry systems
  and traditional agricultural landscapes
• Water
• Climate change

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EU rural development strategy

• The strategy has helped shift the policy from
  being measure led to objective led
• It identifies key environmental priorities for
  action EU wide
• It requires environmental priorities to be
  reflected in national strategic plans and rural
  development programmes
• It should lead to greater transparency and
  accountability of public expenditure

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Axis 1

• Axis 1 includes
• Measures aimed at promoting knowledge and
  improving human potential
• Measures aimed at restructuring and developing
  physical potential and promoting innovation
• Measures aimed at improving the quality of
  agricultural production and products
• Transitional measures for new Member States

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Axis 1- opportunities for the environment

• Environmental training for land managers e.g.
  habitat management, water conservation
• Provision of advice to land managers in High
  Nature Value farming areas, Nitrate Vulnerable
  Zones and sensitive water catchments
• Investments in sustainable technologies e.g. for
  water and energy saving or renewable energy
• Supporting development of food quality or timber
  schemes based on meeting environmental standards

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Axis 2

• Measures targeting the sustainable use of
  agricultural land
• Measures targeting the sustainable use of
  forestry land

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Axis 2 opportunities for the environment

• Agri-environment schemes largely positive but
  scope for improvement and strong demand for
  increased funding
• LFA evaluation concluded LFA payments could be
  more focused on enabling the survival of
  sustainable farming systems rather than
  agricultural management per se.

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Axis 2 opportunities for the environment

• Significant potential to contribute to meeting
  Natura 2000 objectives and objectives of the
  Water Framework Directive
• Introduction of forest environment payments could
  help to achieve wide range of environmental
  objectives

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Axis 3

• Measures to diversify the rural economy
• Measures to improve the quality of life in rural
  areas
• Training and information for economic actors
• Skills acquisition and animation re preparation
  and implementation of a local development strategy

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Axis 3 opportunities for the environment

• Support for eco-tourism activities
• Support for diversification into green
  businesses
• Rural community initiatives for sustainable
  energy production and use
• Supporting capacity building of economic actors
  re Natura 2000, Water Framework Directive,
  sustainable forest management

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Leader

• The Leader approach shall comprise
• Area based local development strategies for
  well-identified subregional rural territories
• Local public-private partnerships (local action
  groups)
• Bottom-up approach with decision making power re
  elaboration and implementation of strategies
• Multi-sectoral design and implementation of the
  strategy with interaction between actors and
  projects of different sectors
• Implementation of innovative approaches
• Implementation of co-operation projects
• Networking of local partnerships

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Leader opportunities for the environment

• Axis 1 - Facilitate groups of farmers, foresters
  and others to work collectively on marketing and
  processing initiatives for sustainable food and
  forest products
• Axis 2 - Encourage farmers, foresters and other
  land managers to work collectively to achieve
  environmental objectives at large scale e.g.
  landscape, catchment, natural area scale
• Axis 3 - Support community groups to record and
  document the natural and cultural heritage of
  their area and promote this both to improve wider
  appreciation and understanding of the environment
  and to encourage economic activity such as
  tourism

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Balance of measures

• 2000-2006 programming period 27.2 of budget on
  agri-environment 12.4 on LFA and 25.6 on other
  rural development measures
• Balance of measures highly variable across the
  Member States reflecting subsidiarity principle
• EAFRD requires minimum expenditure on each Axis

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2003 EAGGF expenditure by type of rural
development measure
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Environmental conditions

• Good Farming Practice requirement replaced by
  cross compliance requirements for 8 Axis 2
  measures
• Additional conditions apply for agri-environment
  payments
• conditions relating to use of fertilisers and
  pesticides
• additional requirements from national legislation
  as specified by Member States
• No environmental conditions attached to Axis 1
  and 3 measures past evidence of environmentally
  damaging expenditure e.g. irrigation and
  afforestation in Spain

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Key conclusions

• EU strategy promotes key environmental priorities
• Requires Member States to reflect these
  priorities in national strategies and plans
• Axis 2 has strong environmental focus but all
  Axes have potential to deliver environmental
  outcomes
• All Axes and measures should be subject to
  environmental conditions

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Issues for the future
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Funding

• 2007-2013 Financial Perspective, Heading 2
  Preservation and management of natural resources
• 319 billion for market expenditure and direct
  aids (after transfer to rural development)
• 88.5 billion for rural development
• 2.1 billion for Life
• Is the allocation of funding based on an
  objective assessment of needs?

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Beneficiaries

• Funding is currently closely tied to land use and
  the main recipients are farmers and foresters
• Not all environmental issues in rural areas
  relate to land use or can be resolved through
  agricultural or forest management
• Should EAFRD become a European Fund for Rural
  Development and the Environment (EFRDE)?

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Measures

• The current suite of measures in EAFRD reflects
  the development of policy over time
• Is the current suite of measures able to address
  the key environmental priorities of biodiversity,
  water and climate change?
• Should any new measures be added or old measures
  be discarded?

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A Taskforce for the CAP

• Aim to consider the future of the CAP (both
  Pillar I and Pillar II) beyond 2013
• Membership a small working group of leading
  experts covering economic, social and
  environmental disciplines
• Activities research and analysis, stakeholder
  consultation, blue-sky thinking
• Report to the Commissioner for Agriculture and
  Rural Development
• Funded by The European Commission

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