Transcript Rural development and water quality target

agriculture and environment
measures – working towards
sustainable agriculture
Paul Speight
European Commission
DG Environment
Unit Agriculture & Soil
Env law pushing towards sust
agriculture





Pesticide Framework Directive
Nitrates Directive
Water Framework Directive
Natura 2000
What is in common?




Flexible but clear approach
Prevention better than cure...
Allow room for more ambition
MS support built in (action plans and so on)
2
Pesticide FD as an example




Integrated pest management
(obligatory by 2014)
Focussed on preventing damage
before it occurs
Room for more ambition - crop specific
IPM for example
Support from MS built in –national
action plans
3
Integrated Pest Management

Promotion of low pesticide-input pest management
Establishment or support of necessary conditions for the
implementation of IPM:



Tools for pest monitoring
Tools for decision-making and advisory services
General principles of IPM (see Annex III) - Guidelines
coming – three pillar structure



Prevention – crop rotation etc
Action only when needed and at the right time – monitoring
etc
Right type of action – advice on PPP etc
4
Rural development + agri-env
measures in particular, supports
env law
Rural
Development
2007-2013
« LEADER » Axis (>5%)
Axis 1
Axis 2
Axis 3
Competitiveness
Environment
+
Land
Management
Economic
Diversification
+
Quality of Life
(> 10%)
(> 25%)
(> 10%)
Single set of programming, financing, monitoring, auditing rules
Single Rural Development Fund (EARFD)
5
RD measures of relevance for env
Training
Agri-environment
Farm Advisory
System
Agro-forestry
Env
Meeting Standards
Farm
modernisation
Develop. of agric.&
forest infrastructure
Forest-env.
payments
Payments linked to
Directive 2000/60 &
NATURA 2000
Afforestation
LFA
Natural disaster&
prevention actions
6
Agri-environment

Main objectives: improvements and maintenance
of the environment

The only compulsory RD measure

Commitments going beyond the AE baseline,

AE Baseline = cross compliance + minimum
requirements for fertiliser and PPP use + other
relevant mandatory national requirements
7
Riparian buffer strips – one concrete example
8
buffer strips – potential for synergies in
action
Nitrates directive – in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones.
No application of fertiliser near water courses.
Legislation already in place.
Water Framework Directive –
Measures operational by October 2012;
no explicit buffer strip obligations
but likely to be needed
in many cases to achieve
required water quality
Cross compliance GAEC –
Introduction by 1/1/2012.
Pesticides Framework Directive
9
What instruments could be used
to do this?



Either legal provisions
e.g. through Pesticide FD implementation
Or MS could use incentive payments (agri-environment or
related state aids).
e.g. MS/regions could introduce an agri-environmental
measure to pay farmers not to farm their GAEC buffer
strips at all, to protect water; and why not add an extra
payment to plant the strips with wildlife enhancing plants,
to protect biodiversity? Great opportunity to do this with
modulation money from CAP Health Check.
A good solution would be to use both compulsory and
voluntary approaches in combination.
10
Next Steps?


Commissioner Potočnik set out some
views in his speech last week
(available on RAPID)
Clear that the future of the CAP
extremely important for the European
environment
11