Agri-environment policy of the European Union and its influence on rural areas development

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Политика охраны окружающей среды в европейском союзе и ее влияние на развитие сельских районов

Agri-environment policy of the European Union and its influence on rural areas development

Бартош Мицкевич

Abstract

В статье представлена программа Европейского Союза в области сельскохозяйственной экологии и её влияние на развитие сельских территорий в старых и новых государствах-членах ЕС. Исследования проводились в 2009 г. Главные выводы статьи: в области сельскохозяйственной экологии необходимы гибкие меры. Необходимо учитывать большое разнообразие сельскохозяйственных ландшафтов. Сельскохозяйственная экологическая политика, проводимая странами-членами ЕС на региональном уровне, должна предусматривать гибкие схемы для адекватного реагирования на местах. Из вышеизложенного следует, что проводимая в ЕС экологическая программа может обеспечить надёжные меры для улучшения экологии в сельскохозяйственном секторе.

The paper presents agri-environment policy of the European Union and its influence on rural areas development in old and new Member States. The research studies were made in 2009. The main conclusions of the paper are that the flexibility of agri-environment measures enables it to meet certain environmental needs which cannot be met by other means. The great diversity of its implementation shows that it is able to respond to very diverse situations on the ground. A regional level for measure design (when used) makes it easier to meet environmental needs with precision. Member States can introduce agri-environment schemes at the appropriate level, and ensure that they are responsive to local conditions. From mentioned above results that EU agriculture policy provides an important opportunity to improve environmental management in the farming sector.

Introduction

Farming has a strong impact on the environment in the European Union (EU), both in a negative and a positive sense.

The common agricultural policy (CAP) is a major driver of the agricultural sector, and can therefore positively influence environmental management by farmers.

The successful integration of environmental objectives into sectoral policy depends on three different aspects: careful design of the policy framework, proper implementation of the policy, as well as monitoring and policy evaluation.

Significant progress has been made in integrating environmental policy concerns (e.g. protecting water, soil or biodiversity) into the CAP over the last decades. Relevant policy instruments in the CAP market policy include environmental conditions for income support ('cross-compliance'), set-aside and the energy crop premium.

Most important environmental policy measures are found, however, in the rural development section of the CAP. They include agri-environment schemes (where farmers are compensated for better environmental management), support for environmental investment, payments to farmers in Natura 2000 areas and environmental training. Overall, the CAP policy framework contains a promising range of measures. However, their final effect depends on the focus of budgetary resources and implementation at national level.

Purpose of this article is to present the role of agri-environment policy of the European Union and its influence on rural areas development in old and new Member States and its meaning in future and new financial perspective in 2007-2013.

There was put hypothesis that agri-environment policy will play more and more significant role in agricultural economy of EU Member States and agri-environment measures will be taken under consideration during processes of all economic decisions concerning rural areas.

This article was written on the basis of internal materials of the Ministry of Agriculture and European Committee together with own remarks of the author, who performed as an expert during some meetings at the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy.

Results of studies

In last few years there was made the analyses of the implementation of agri-environment schemes from two perspectives: the geographic targeting of this policy instrument on areas of highest biodiversity concern (Natura 2000 areas), and positive examples of their implementation.

Agri-environment schemes was analysed on the basis of selected agri-environment indicators. The indicators for which data are currently available at regional level include: 'share of agricultural habitats in Natura 2000', 'area under agri-environment schemes' and 'area under organic farming'. Statistical analysis shows how well agri-environment schemes and organic farming overlap with regions where the share of agricultural habitats in Natura 2000 area is very high. If there is good statistical overlap then good targeting of the policy instrument can be assumed. Statistical analysis indicates that there is a poor geographic match between the key indicators. This implies the need for better targeting of the policy analysed (agri-environment schemes and organic farming) in regions of highest biodiversity concern in the EU-27. Greater attention needs to be paid to this issue in future to ensure that farmland habitats in the Natura 2000 network are appropriately managed (graphic).

Graphic. Outline and results of the targeting analysis for biodiversity.

Source: Statistical Yearbook of European Union, 2006.

The effectiveness of agri-environment schemes (and of other policy measures) depends not only on appropriate geographic targeting but also on effective scheme design and implementation. The case studies examined by the EEA provide positive examples. However, other studies show that the effect of existing agri-environment schemes on biodiversity can be very uneven. Therefore, it is important to support the sharing of best practice between EU Member States in this regard.

The effect of the CAP agri-environmental policy framework and its implementation needs to be evaluated by monitoring agricultural and environmental trends. This allows some limited analysis of the likely success of policy integration, as shown above. However, many of the agri-environment indicators on agricultural pressures, environmental state or the implementation of policy instruments are insufficiently underpinned by data, especially at regional geographical level. This means that analysis of the likely effect of agri-environmental policy on other environmental issues, such as nutrient pollution or soil erosion, is currently not feasible at EU member states level.

Agri-environment measures

Agri-environment measures are designed to encourage farmers to protect and enhance the environment on their farmland. It provides for payments to farmers in return for a service - that of carrying out agri-environmental commitments that involve more than the application of usual good farming practice. Farmers sign a contract with the administration and are paid for the additional cost of implementing such commitments and for any losses of income (e.g. due to reduced production) which the commitments entail. Agri-environment payments are co-financed by the EU and the Member States with a contribution from the Community budget of 85% in Objective 1 areas and 60% in others. Agri-environment measures may be designed at national, regional or local level so that they can be adapted to the particular farming systems and environmental conditions, which vary greatly throughout the EU. This makes agri-environment a potentially precise tool for achieving environmental goals. Agri-environmental measures are diverse, but broadly speaking, one could say that each measure has at least one of two broad objectives: reducing environmental risks associated with modern farming on the one hand, and preserving nature and cultivated landscapes on the other hand.

How these two objectives are expressed in measures depends on the area in question. For instance, in areas with intensive agricultural production measures are often focused on reducing environmental risks (e.g. reducing fertiliser or pesticide inputs, planting winter cover to reduce nitrate leaching etc), but there may also be measures designed to protect nature (e.g. the leaving of winter stubbles in intensive arable areas to provide food for birds). By contrast, in more extensive farming areas, the main environmental risk is generally linked to land abandonment, resulting from the abandonment of labour-intensive traditional farming practices important for the preservation of nature. In such areas measures tend to focus on continuing or re-introducing traditional farming practices with a view to nature protection (e.g. mowing grass rather than grazing it; maintaining hedgerows, etc). But in extensive areas there may also be measures designed to reduce environmental risks e.g. limits on fertiliser applications to grassland. Irrespective of area, there are clearly many measures which will have positive impacts both in reducing environmental risks with respect to soil and water and in protecting nature e.g. maintenance of hedges.

Agri-environment commitments have to go beyond usual Good Farming Practice (GFP). Usual Good Farming Practice is defined as encompassing mandatory legal requirements and a level of environmental care that a reasonable farmer is expected to apply anyway. They are compiled in Codes which Regions draw up and submit to the Commission with their Rural Development Plans. This means that a farmer can only be paid, for instance, for environmental commitments that go beyond statutory requirements defined in his regional Code of GFP. More broadly, in application of the Polluter Pays Principle, a farmer may not normally be paid to conform with environmental legislation in place.

NATURA 2000 network in rural areas

Europe has one of the most diverse and varied rural landscapes in the world. This diversity arose out of centuries of different farming practices which generated many semi-natural habitats that are particularly rich in wildlife - such as hay meadows, wet grasslands, wooded pastures and open heaths. These semi-natural habitats are part of what makes Europe's landscape so special, both culturally and from a biodiversity perspective. This valuable resource is however rapidly disappearing. Agriculture in Europe has undergone some major changes in the last fifty years. After the war, farmers were encouraged to intensify and modernise wherever possible in order to increase their yields and improve efficiency. Monocultures were introduced, fields enlarged, livestock farms expanded, and pesticides and fertilisers introduced. Not all farms were able to follow this trend though. Some were handicapped by local conditions: the fields were too steep, the soil too poor, the area too remote, the work too labour intensive.

As a result, many farmers in the more marginal agricultural areas of Europe were forced to leave their land and search for jobs elsewhere. The result is that large tracts of farmland across Europe have been heavily transformed or simply abandoned. The combined effects of these opposing trends on Europe's biodiversity are significant and much of our high nature value farmland is now fast disappearing. Because a high biodiversity usually coincides with low agricultural outputs, most of the farmland in Natura 2000 is located in the marginal farming areas. Typical examples include alpine meadows and pastures, open moorland or wet grasslands. In these areas, existing farming practices are already likely to be compatible and so should be allowed to continue as before. Indeed, designation under Natura 2000 could further help to re-enforce such activities by drawing attention to their societal value and by focusing EU funds towards their maintenance and, where possible, re-introduction. The importance of farming in maintaining our natural environment is now recognised at the highest political level. The latest changes to the Common Agricultural Policy have, for instance, decoupled farm payments from production and linked them instead to keeping farmland in good agricultural and environmental condition.

The latest Rural Development Regulation (2007-2013) now has, as one of its objectives, to improve the environment and the countryside. Its supports a number of land management practices that are beneficial for the environment, such as agri-environment schemes. This has wide reaching implications for Europe's biodiversity and for the Natura 2000 Network in particular, as farmers are now entitled to extra financial support for carrying out wildlife-friendly farming activities. The `single farm' payment is no longer linked to production. Instead it is conditional upon keeping farmland in `good agricultural and environmental condition and respecting, amongst others the provisions of the Habitats and Birds Directives. Temporary and digressive support is available to cushion the effects of complying with particularly demanding environmental, hygiene and animal welfare standards imposed by EU legislation.

The definition of Areas faced with Environmental Restrictions (AERs) is now restricted exclusively to Natura 2000 areas. This helps farmers to meet the provisions of the Birds and Habitats Directives and compensate them for any special management they must undertake that goes beyond normal requirements of good farming practice. This can be further supplemented by voluntary agri-environment schemes designed to protect the environment and maintain biodiversity. These can be specifically targeted towards particular natural areas or wildlife species. It is up to each Member State to design their own agri-environment schemes to reflect their regional or national priorities. Support can also be granted for drawing up management plans relating to Natura 2000 sites and for enhancing, the public amenity value of Natura 2000 areas and other areas of high natural value. The EU common agricultural policy provides an important opportunity for improving environmental management in the agriculture sector as farming income depends to a considerable degree on CAP support. However, this opportunity only becomes reality when relevant policy measures are geographically well-targeted, sufficiently resourced and effectively implemented. If that is the case, then the CAP can also contribute to achieving other Community environmental objectives, such as the protection of biodiversity via the Natura 2000 network. A well-targeted and cost- effective approach to environmental integration in the CAP is not automatically guaranteed. Any approach to using agricultural policy for environmental protection needs to be underpinned by comprehensive environmental monitoring and effective policy evaluation. Only then can policy decisions be taken that provide most environmental return from the significant public resources available in the CAP. Further investment in environmental monitoring and policy evaluation is still necessary for policy makers to take better-informed decisions.

environmental policy pollution erosion

Conclusions

The flexibility of agri-environment measures enables it to meet certain environmental needs which cannot be met by other means. The great diversity of its implementation shows that it is able to respond to very diverse situations on the ground. A regional level for measure design (when used) makes it easier to meet environmental needs with precision. Member States can introduce agri-environment schemes at the appropriate level, and ensure that they are responsive to local conditions.

The optional, contractual nature of agri-environment measures makes it an instrument with a high level of acceptance among farmers, and a correspondingly high level of compliance. Agri-environment measures serve an educational role in that its existence improves environmental awareness among farmers; they can also help to maintain/regain acceptance for farming among the general public.

Agriculture has a significant impact on soil and water resources. For example, agriculture is responsible for about 50% of water use in southern Europe and contributes about 50% of total nitrogen pollution in the rivers of the EU-15. It is also responsible for around 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions and 94% of ammonia emissions in the EU-15. On the other hand, agriculture can also represent a source of renewable energy, e.g. through the production of biogas or biodiesel. Furthermore, farming is very important for the maintenance of biodiversity and landscapes in Europe. Although intensive agriculture damages biodiversity, extensive farming practices can actually help to maintain biodiversity in Europe. This is evident from analysis of land use in the Natura 2000 protected area network in the EU. A significant share of habitats in these conservation sites, particularly in the Mediterranean and mountainous areas, depend on extensive farming practices. To maintain extensive farming systems in such areas, targeted policy support is often called for.

The CAP has incorporated a broad range of agri-environmental policy instruments. However, their impact generally depends on how effective implementation is at national level. Geographic analysis shows that the overlap between Natura 2000 areas and agri-environment schemes could be improved to achieve important environmental objectives. At this stage, more efforts in data collection and policy evaluation are required to fully assess the environmental effect of the CAP.

EU agriculture policy provides an important opportunity to improve environmental management in the farming sector. As a public resource it should be used effectively to maximise environmental gain. The design of the CAP now includes a broad range of agri-environmental policy instruments that can support the implementation of wider environmental policies, such as Natura 2000. Agri-environment schemes, for example, can help maintain extensive farming practices in Natura 2000 areas. Such practices are often essential for maintaining the ecological quality of farmland habitats in these areas. The effectiveness of agri-environment schemes in particular depends on national level implementation and geographic targeting. Analysis of budgetary spending in different regions of the EU-15 shows that the targeting of agri-environment schemes on areas of high nature value farmland, in particular those in Natura 2000 sites could be improved. Current data and indicators are insufficient to properly assess the environmental effect of the CAP. An adequate resource investment in data collection and policy evaluation is necessary to assess whether policies supporting environmental integration are effective or efficient. Such evaluation exercises are essential for ensuring a better return from the budget allocated to major (agri-environmental) policy measures.

Literature

1. EEA. 2005. Agriculture and environment in the EU-15 - the IRENA indicator report. Joint publication by DG Agriculture and Rural Development, DG Environment, Eurostat, and the European Environment Agency, Copenhagen.

2. EEA 2008. Environmental policy integration in Europe - state of play and an evaluation framework. European Environment Agency, Copenhagen.

3. Natura 2000, conservation in partnership. 2009. European Commission. Brussels.

4. Rural Development in the European Union - Statistical and Economic Information - Report 2008. Brussels.

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