Brussels, 20/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - On 15 July, the European Commission adopted a communication in which it puts forward its ideas on the Community co-funding of the Natura 2000 network. It has come out in favour of integrating the funding of the network into relevant Community policies, and thus paying for them out of existing funds. By taking this position, the Commission is turning its back on the option of creating an autonomous fund devoted to Natura 2000, which is supported by a minority of Member States.
To justify its choice, the Commission states that up to now, significant funding has been used from both the structural and rural development funds, to establish and manage the network. It deduces from this that "this is why a new financial instrument has not been proposed, as this would duplicate work being done by existing financial instruments". The "substantial" Community co-funding for Natura 20010 will therefore come under the heading of the new financial perspectives for 2007-2013. The Commission stresses, however, that it is not possible to set an objective for the level of this funding, as the final expenditure will depend on the priority granted to the network under the various programmes of the Member States.
The Commission stresses the importance of making certain that the decision to include the funding needs of Natura 2000 in other political sectors than that of the environment leads to sufficient overall funding to meet the network's needs. It intends, therefore, to encourage the Member States to pay particular attention to the needs of Natura 2000 when drawing up their programmes for the funds in question. It also plans to publish more "detailed guidance documents" on how these funds can be used to support the Natura 2000 network.