By Jenna Hegarty, Senior Agriculture Policy Officer
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform negotiations are in full swing and much of the attention has been on controversial ‘greening’ proposals for Direct Payments (Pillar I). So we felt it was high time to shine the spotlight on Rural Development (Pillar II). Along with BirdLife Europe and our German partner, NABU, we held a conference in Brussels in June to focus on the vital role of Pillar II in promoting wildlife-friendly farming and improving the CAP’s environmental performance - reinforcing the message that wildlife-friendly farmers took to their MEPs in March.
Conference panel discussion © Jenna Hegarty, RSPB
Influential speakers, including MEPs from the Agriculture and Environment Committees, European Commission, European Court of Auditors, European Environment Agency and DEFRA, highlighted the scale of the environmental, economic and social challenges facing us all and the importance of agriculture and CAP in addressing these. Speakers working on rural development schemes on the ground demonstrated the positive impact that well-designed and funded schemes can have for the environment and rural communities.
Everyone recognised the need to improve the overall environmental performance of the CAP. Whilst ‘greening’ of Pillar I is necessary, for us it is clear that a strong, well-targeted and well-funded Pillar II is crucial to make this CAP reform the real green reform we all need in order to meet our environmental targets and protect the natural resources that underpin food production and long-term food security.
In economically uncertain times, with ongoing EU budget discussions threatening further cuts to CAP funding, now - more than ever - is the time to demonstrate value for money for public investment in EU agriculture by supporting the Rural Development schemes that reward you for the amazing things you do for wildlife and the environment. Without this, the future of sustainable farming in Europe looks increasingly fragile and public support for continued investment in the CAP could be lost.
BirdLife launched a declaration to coincide with the conference, calling for more Pillar II funding and ring-fenced funding for targeted measures such as agri-environment that support more sustainable land management and viable farming communities. If you would like to sign the declaration and help ensure that this CAP reform provides Rural Development Policy with the support it urgently needs, please contact Elodie.Cantaloube@birdlife.org. We will continue working hard to ensure that the reformed CAP delivers for farmers, the public and the environment.