Brussels, 21/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 21 April 2009, the European Commission adopted a communication preparing for a re-classification of farm regions in naturally difficult environments. With the aid of scientific experts, the Commission has set out eight soil and climate criteria to classify such areas in an objective and accurate manner but needs more information before it can publish draft legislation. The member states are therefore invited to submit simulations of the use of the new criteria to the Commission. While awaiting the re-classification (expected to come into force in 2014) the current set-up will remain in place. The re-classification will not apply to mountainous areas (which are already classified using objective common criteria) or islands and coastal regions and other areas with specific disadvantages.
Introduced in 1975, the EU aid system for farms in disadvantaged regions comprises an aid mechanism to help keep farms in business and thereby preserve the natural environment in mountainous areas, disadvantaged non-mountainous areas (described as “intermediate” disadvantaged areas) and areas suffering from natural disadvantages. Some 31% of EU farmland is classified as intermediate disadvantaged areas based on a wide range of criteria whose diversity, argues the European Court of Auditors, can lead to unequal treatment of beneficiaries. Only a limited proportion of farms in these areas (7% of the total number of farms in the EU) receive the disadvantaged areas aid, the scale of which varies widely from one member state to the next (from €16 per hectare in Spain to €215 per hectare in Belgium).
With the aid of scientific experts, the Commission has set out eight soil and climate criteria that can be used to carry out an objective and accurate classification of such areas. The criteria are: 1) low temperature, 2) thermal stress, 3) soil drainage, 4) soil texture and porosity, 5) root depth, 6) chemical properties of the soil, 7) hydric nature of the soil and 8) slope. The feasibility of a zone system based on these 8 criteria now needs to be assessed by means of simulations by the member states on the basis of detailed national data.
Better targeting. To preserve landscapes, natural habitats and biodiversity, ward off forest fires and improve water and soil managements, it is vital that sustainable farming remains in areas of difficult natural conditions due to climate and/or soil type. EU funding to preserve farming in such areas must be reserved for areas suffering from genuine natural disadvantages that make farming difficult. The way the funding is shared out among the various farms concerned must change in order to target farms where there is the greatest risk of the land being abandoned.
Member state governments are asked to submit their simulations to the Commission by 21 October 2009. The new classification system is expected to be introduced in 2014. (L.C./transl.fl)