Florence, 30/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Commission is hoping to unveil new draft legislation in July, to set up a single rural development fund after 2007. This would aim to make the "second pillar" of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) better controlled, simpler to manage and refocused on three sections (the competitiveness of agriculture, the environment and the rural area, and quality of life in rural areas). This was the main information transmitted at the seminar organised in Florence recently by the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR). The Director General of DG Agriculture, Dirk Ahner, told EUROPE that the Commission was actively considering the best way to share out funding among the Member States, striking a balance between not upsetting the current situation too much and the Member States which want to see greater funding allocated to them. Ahner said they wanted the funding to be divided on the basis of objective criteria, but at the same time they could not make too drastic changes from one programming period to another.
As a rough estimate, the Commission is earmarking more than EUR 88 billion for the period 2007 to 2013 for rural development (calculated at 2004 prices). The new Fund will receive funding from the Guarantee Section of EAGGF (which currently funds rural development) with spending for the EU25 being maintained at the level foreseen for 2006, supplemented by aid for Romania and Bulgaria; and the Guidance Section of the EAGGF, (which currently comes under Cohesion Policy), with aid calculated in line with the historical percentage of the 'Guidance' Structural Fund spending for Objective 1 regions, plus aid for Bulgaria and Romania. Half of the Initiative Fund would also be included. Patrick Salez, of DG Regional Policy, said that EUR 36 billion would be transferred in this way from regional policy to the new Rural Development Fund