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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
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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)
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
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
Rural development + agri-env measures in particular, supports env law Rural Development 2007-2013 « LEADER » Axis(>5%) Axis 1 Competitive-ness (> 10%) Axis 2 Environment+Land Management (> 25%) Axis 3 Economic Diversification+ Quality of Life (> 10%) Single set of programming, financing, monitoring, auditing rules Single Rural Development Fund (EARFD)
RD measures of relevance for env Agri-environment Forest-env. payments Training Agro-forestry Farm Advisory System Env Afforestation Meeting Standards Farm modernisation LFA Payments linked to Directive 2000/60 & NATURA 2000 Develop. of agric.& forest infrastructure Natural disaster& prevention actions
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
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.
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