The CAP reform and its implication for birds and the management of SPAs

1. The CAP reform and its implication for birds and the management of SPAs Eric Mulleneers, European Commission - DG Environment ORNIS COMMITTEE October 4th, 2013

2. Content Biodiversity strategy and agricultural policy The CAP reform Best practices contributing to the improvement of the conservation status of Birds and the management of SPAs

3. 1. Biodiversity strategy and agricultural policy

4. EU strategy and legal obligations for the protection of birds linked with CAP • EU Birds and Habitats Directives (BHD) • Favourable conservation status • EU Biodiversity Strategy, by 2020: • Halt biodiversity loss, restore ecosystem services • Target 1: full implementation of BHD, achieve measurable improvement of conservation status of species and habitat types • Target 3a: maximize areas covered under CAP biodiversity-related measures, 5 sub-targets were largely included in Comm CAP reform proposals

5. Subtargets of the BiodiversityStrategy

6. 2. The CAP reform

7. Implementation mechanism Voluntary with premia covering cost incurred and income forgone Rural development Mandatory with direct support (decoupled “green” payment per ha) Cumulative environmental benefits Green direct payments Statutory Management Requirements and Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions Cross compliance Eligible area The New Greening Architecture of the CAP Agricultural Research European Innovation Partnership Farm Advisory System

8. Cross Compliance: relevant changes • SMR 1 and 5 (Birds and Habitats Directive), withdrawal of • article 5 of Birds Directive and article 13 of Habitats Directive (obligation for MS to establish measures for protection of birds and plants); • article 6(3) and (4) of Habitats Directive (obligation for authority to perform impact assessment of plans/projects and compensate for the implementation) Reason: obligation not directed to farmers • Creation of a new GAEC: ban of cutting hedges and trees during the bird breeding and rearing season • Deletion of the GAEC on Protection of permanent pasture Reason: present in the greening of direct payments

9. Greening of Direct Payments • Green requirements are eligibility criteria for 30% of DP-envelope: • Crop diversification (arable land): • 10-30 ha: 2 crops; main crop max 75% • >30 ha: 3 crops; 2 main crops together max 95%) • Ecological Focus Areas (if more than 15 ha arable land on farm): • 5% (in 2017 COM and proposal to increase to 7%); • EFA can be e.g. landscape features (hedges, trees, walls), buffer strips, land lying fallow, catch crops, green cover • Maintaining permanent grassland: • flexibility within a 5% margin of the ratio grassland/total agric. area; • no ploughing or conversion of sensitive grassland in NATURA 2000 areas • Equivalence of certification systems and certain agri-environment measures

10. Rural Development (1) • Specific environment priority and focus area: • restoring, preserving and enhancing biodiversity, incl. in Natura 2000 areas, areas facing natural or other specific constraints and high nature value farming, and the state of European landscapes - art 5 (4) (a); • Appropriate approach towards the environment including the specific needs of natura 2000 area - art 9 (1) (c). • EAFRD main EU source of Natura 2000 funding. • But: lower EAFRD-budget in new period • possibility of transfer of up to 15% frampillar 1 to pillar 2; • possibilityof up to 25% transferfrom 2nd pillar to 1st pillar • Minimum of 30% of EARDF to bededicated to environment

11. Rural Development (2) • Number of measures has been decreased, by combining measures and increasing scope of remaining measures • Existing measures most relevant for environment and biodiversity remain: • Area based measures (compensating extra costs/income foregone): • Art. 29: Agri-environment-climate (for voluntary extra measures taken by (groups of) farmers and other land-managers) • Art. 35: Forestry-environmental and comate services and forest conservation • Art. 31: Natura2000 and Water Framework Directive payments (compensating for disadvantages incurred in particular areas as result of implementing Natura2000 /WFD • Art. 32: areas with natural constraints (compensation for disadvantages in these areas)

12. Rural Development (3) • Support for environmental friendly/'non-productive' investments: • Art. 18: Investments by farmers in physical assets • Art. 26: investments improving the resilience and environmental value of forest ecosystems • Art 21: investments associated with maintaining, restoring and upgrading natural heritage/HNV-sites • Support for training, advice, study, cooperation: • Art. 15: Knowledge transfer • Art. 16: Advisory services: including financing of FAS • Art. 21: studies associated with natural heritage/HNV-sites • Art. 36: Co-operation: joint approaches to delivering economic / environmental benefits • Art 42: LEADER-approach • Other relevant measures • Art. 30: Organic farming

13. 3. Best Practices

14. CAP best practices: Direct Payments • Ensure the economic viability of extensive farming systems (including HNV) • Do not exclude the extensive area from direct payment • Flexible eligibility rules to preserve natural features for wildlife (e.g. trees, field margins and hedges) • Greening: • ambitious implementation of Ecological Focus Area to ensure added value for wildlife : Landscape features, buffer strips and terraces to protect in priority • application of enlarged definition of permanent grassland (inclusion of plant which are grazable but not herbaceous) • Include ban of ploughing permanent grassland also in environmentally sensitive area outside Natura 2000 area (HNV). Ratio implemented at farm level. • On equivalence, consider only ambitious schemes

15. CAP best practices : Rural Development • Complete and comprehensive diagnostic of the situation of wildlife on agricultural land in the RDPs; consistency with the Prioritized Action Frameworks in the coming period. • Pressures on wildlife need to be adequately addressed by RD measures (e.g. agri-environment, N2000 payments, non-productive investments. • Ensure increased uptake (eg: fair compensation; linked with advice) • Ensure better efficiency (eg: specific to the region; specific to some species; result based) • Ensure continuity (eg: compatible with other measures; designed to encourage collective schemes; designed with long term commitments) • Use existing flexibility: • ambitious financial contribution to biodiversity, beyond the 30 % minimum • Eligibility of non-farmers • Longer-term contracts • Maximum payments • Look for win-win

16. CAP best practices: Capacity building • Importance of building the environmental capacity of the farmer, including wildlife aspects within the Farm Advisory System • Include capacity building support as a condition to access to investment and young farmers measures • Use of the range of capacity building support: • Farm advisory services • Knowledge transfer and innovation

17. Draft Guidance on Farming for Natura 2000 • How to integrate Natura 2000 conservation objectives into farming practices • Based on Member States good practice experiences • Prepared through an active dialogue with relevant stakeholders (agricultural and environmental authorities, farmers’ organisations, environmental NGOs) • Guidance to design different packages of CAP and other measures to support the management of Natura 2000 in farmland • Includes good practice examples from EU-27 • Draftavailableathttps://circabc.europa.eu/faces/jsp/extension/wai/navigation/container.jsp

18. Thankyou for your attention !