“Could do better - How is the EU Rural Development policy delivering for biodiversity?”

Marek Jobda A new BirdLife study reviews the potential effects on biodiversity of the 2007-2013 Rural Development Programmes across the European Union. Zoom In

A new BirdLife study reviews the potential effects on biodiversity of the 2007-2013 Rural Development Programmes (RDP) across the European Union. The survey confirms that, being based on solid principles of good policy-making, Rural Development policy has considerable potential to tackle the biodiversity challenge. Examples of actions that are likely to benefit biodiversity have been highlighted in almost all measures and RDPs. On the other hand, although major improvements have been made in comparison with the previous programming period, the potential of Rural Development to achieve its objectives for biodiversity is still severely undermined by poorly designed schemes and insufficient allocation of resources. Only a very small portion of current Rural development spending is currently targeting biodiversity while many potentially harmful investments are still funded without appropriate safeguards.

On the one hand, Axis 2 measures should be revised to ensure SMART objectives and clear value for the environment, and financial resources should be directed to these schemes. On the other hand, detailed and explicit environmental safeguards should be set for all investments in physical capital, in order to prevent depletion of water resources, increase in carbon emissions, increased soil sealing, and fragmentation or degradation of habitats.

Despite the improvements needed, RD remains the best model for a future CAP, which should be based on the principle of rewarding farmers for the delivery of public goods; hardly any of the soundness principles underpinning RD can be found in the CAP Pillar 1. The outcome of the CAP “Health Check” has created an invaluable opportunity to develop RD in this direction. The European Commission, and national and regional authorities managing RDPs, should seize this chance to make significant and urgent improvements in the implementation of RD policy, not only to address the EU’s pressing environmental problems, but also to provide a more solid base for the continuation of EU spending in this field.

Download the full report here.