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GENERAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION
"Rural Development" is the main EU program for financing numerous environmental and nature conservation objectives. Rural development is also the "second pillar" of the reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy.
The "European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development" (EAFRD) has been established through a Regulation of the European Council on the 20th of September 2005.
Financing measures from rural development are vitally important for nature conservation in Austria. The agri-environment program, the special measures for less-favoured areas and various other measures from agriculture and forestry and their closely related sectors are relevant in this context.
Agricultural reorientation
Since the 1980s the development policy for the agricultural sector in Europe has been influenced by the following four criteria:
- Limitation of agricultural expenses
- Liberalization of world trade of agricultural products
- Ecological agricultural production
- Comprehensive use of funds
First pillar: Direct aids for farmers
The newest developments in the funding system for agriculture have already incorporated these criteria. With the so called "decoupling" the course has been set for the financial future of European farmers. The main goal was to combine the liberalization of the market with more ecologically friendly forms of production. The sole liberalization of the world trade of agricultural products (= no more direct payments for production) would have resulted in major losses for the farmers, as hardly any farmer in Europe can sell his products at prices which can be achieved e.g. in the USA. The decisive factor to receive financing under the new program is the use of the production areas of the reference years. As a consequence of decoupling the financing from production, the state no longer interferes with production decisions like what and how much will be cultivated on a certain area. Now the farmer will make this decision and produce what the market demands or what he deems useful for some other reason. In addition to positive ecological effects, a decrease in surplus-production is also expected.
Second Pillar "Rural Development"
The second pillar - rural development - has been strongly influenced by the conclusions of the Göteborg European Council in 2001, which state as their objective that the agricultural policy within the frame of Agenda 2000 "to become more oriented towards satisfying the general public's growing demands regarding food safety, …, environmental quality and the conservation of nature and the countryside". Furthermore a separate working group in 2003 lead to a decision of all member states that the financing of the Natura 2000 network as well as other important nature conservation objectives shall not be implemented through a separate EU nature conservation fund but through the integration of nature conservation in already existing funds (e.g. rural development). With these basic principles on hand the European Commission focuses on three policy objectives in the new regulation for the timeframe from 2007 to 2013.
- Increase of competitiveness
- Conservation of the environment and landscape
- Improvement of the quality of life in rural areas
A fourth objective iis the continuation of LEADER. This axis has no clearly defined measures and refers to the other three axes.
These priorities of the European Union clearly point out the significance of nature conservation and environmental objectives in the new programs.
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