Potential European CAP reform

Hi All

I heard earlier that 8,107 people e-mailed President Barroso by the deadline.

There is a message saying this up on the link.

Now we have to wait & see if this has the desired effect!

S

Emily,  I have tried to find out the result of the EU budget proosals on various news items without success.  I know this is subject of debate but do we yet know the proposals

Hi Bob

Various information on the proposal is beginning to emerge – some formal and some informal.  We’re working hard to try and find out exactly what has been proposed, and crucially what it means for wildlife friendly farming.  We should have an update for you all later today.  Thanks for your patience – and your support!

Steven

You're right spoonbill, 8,107 emails sent by the deadline and 433 of these just from Tuesday so thank you all again for your help spreading the message.

Nothing yet Bob I'm afraid. We've heard a few rumours and my colleagues are rallying around trying to clarify so that we can make an official statement. more to follow as soon as I hear more...

E.

Hi all,

It looks as though all your efforts were well spent, we’ve managed to avert disaster (for the time being) so thank you!

But, there’s more work to be done to ensure the UK Government fights for wildlife-friendly farming.

Steven will be able to share more detail later this afternoon but for the time being, you can find out more about President Barroso’s proposals in our press release which has just gone out to the national media:

www.rspb.org.uk/.../283269-wildlife-forgotten-in-the-next-eu-budget

E.

Emily,  I think you are right that there is still a lot of work to be done, the very strange wording of 30% of CAP to be attached to 'greening' commitments could be anything and not necessarily wildlife ( If I was a farmer I might try for that money for solar power rather than wild bird habitat).   Also I am sure the UK Govt and others would have expected a decrease in the EU budget bottom line and will fight against an increase as they did last time so if money has to be taken out of this budget it is a bit worrying.

As promised by Emily, here’s a bit more from me.

After much speculation and alarm the draft EU Budget was published late yesterday.  The outstanding piece of news is that plans to scrap Pillar 2 have been fought off – and we couldn’t have achieved this without the help of the 8,107 people who took part in our online action and e-mailed the President of the European Commission during the last week.  Thank you all very much!

Here’s a bit more on the headlines.  The overall CAP budget remains broadly the same, which means that when you factor in inflation there has been a real terms cut.  We’re not yet certain what the split between Pillar 1 (direct payments to farmers) and Pillar 2 (which funds wildlife-friendly farming) will be, but it looks like it will be broadly the same as before.  There is some concern that changes to the rules that allow individual Member States to move money between Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 could reduce the money available to reward farmers who work in ways that benefit wildlife and the environment.  I’ll provide more detail as soon as I can.

One possible silver lining is a commitment to make 30% of Pillar 1 funds dependent on farmers taking certain ‘green’ measures.  These measures are not yet specified but making sure they are as beneficial to the environment as possible and not just ‘greenwash’ will undoubtedly be one of the main asks of our future campaign actions.

On a positive note, the budget for LIFE+, the only EU fund available exclusively for wildlife and the environment, used for things like managing the network of sites protected under the Birds and Habitats Directives (the Natura2000 network – you may have seen their logo on some RSPB reserve signs) has seen a proposed increase in its funding to help climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Finally though, as Bob says the proposals reflect an overall increase in the size of the EU Budget – something that the UK and several other Member States are opposed to.  This means it is likely that cuts are going to be proposed and we are going to have to maintain our efforts to ensure these do not come from funds that benefit wildlife and the environment.

You can read more in the RSPB’s press release (www.rspb.org.uk/.../283269-wildlife-forgotten-in-the-next-eu-budget).  And if you want to read the details yourself you can find it all on the European Commission’s website (ec.europa.eu/.../20110628_speeches_2_en.htm).

In the coming months there will be new ways for you to get involved.  This draft budget now has to be scrutinised by all the EU Member States and the European Parliament.  This means lots of opportunities for us to step up and be a voice for nature – we will take advantage of them all, and we will help you do the same.

I’ll provide more details as things become clearer.

Thanks again

Steven

Hi All,

There was a bit on Radio 4 in "Farming Today" this morning in which there was the usual vague reassurances but what was said about the EU wanting to encourage greener farming seemed to me to be very insubstantial and more of a case of paying lip service to an idea.

We need to keep up the pressure but does anyone know the best way of doing that at this stage?

Could we put some pressure on the farming, countryside wnd wildlife programmes on radio and TV to keep this issue to the forefront in their programming? They could still be "impartial" and put any side of the argument as the important thing is to keep the issue live.

Lots of press releases to these media outlets would possibly help as could tackling newspapers in the same way and also letters to your local newspapers.

I have been told that fewer and fewer people are writing letters to local papers these days so that it is relatively easy to get letters published in the "Letters to the Editor" pages. maybe we could start a campaign there. I'll try drafting something for my local rags this weekend and if we could all share ideas of what to write about we might make a few waves - don't forget that national papers, radio newsrooms and websites trawl through the local papers to get news leads so.....

Jenni

Wise words Jenni!

Unknown said:

Today the RSPB is drawing attention to worrying news that the EU budget may reduce the element of CAP that applies to wildlife friendly farming

See:  http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork/b/martinharper/archive/2011/06/21/con-t-cut-the-life-from-our-countryside-the-sequel.aspx

Consider signing up to the email letter to the President in an attempt to avoid this;  I have just done so and it is easy.

See:   http://campaigning.rspb.org.uk/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=13&ea.campaign.id=10495

This is worrying as the element of CAP that is likely to remain has no link to wildlife whatsoever.

Bob's exellent thread starter is the RSPB communities Good Egg Post of the month, nice work Bob!