European Parliament resolution on Financing Natura 2000 (2004/2164(INI))
Date: 2005-03-10
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU environmental policy, EU financing, Structural Funds, biodiversity, protected area, sustainable development

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46.
Considers that FP7 should build on the scope of the research areas within FP6, so as to maintain
continuity; however priority should be given to key areas of science and technology which play a crucial
role in increasing European competitiveness, creating new jobs and improving the well-being of citizens. In
this respect, while agreeing to the inclusion of space research and the relatively new area of security
research, believes that FP7 should adequately support research in the areas of:

(a)

life sciences (including biotechnology, neuroscience and preventive and public health),

(b) all existing and future non-CO2-emitting energy sources (particularly renewable energy and energy effi-

ciency),

(c)

ICT,

(d) nanotechnology, new materials and production processes,

(e)

chemistry;

Believes that, in order to cope with the growing worldwide environmental dangers, it is essential that

47.
European research policy strongly promotes R & D in the field of natural hazards;

Considers that the EU should ensure financing of currently underfunded research on illnesses that

48.
affect citizens of developing countries;

Considers that FP7 should also support R & D in highly innovative areas of slower-growing scientific

49.
disciplines and economic sectors;

Stresses the need for the European Union to take specific actions to bring science closer to the
issues, which

50.
citizen, for example by opening public debates on important scientific and technological
should be reflected in European research policy and in the forthcoming FP;

51.
Calls on the Commission to show a proper concern for animal protection firstly by supporting alter-
natives to animal testing and secondly by reducing to a minimum the number of animal tests in the projects
it finances;

Considers that greater consideration should be given in the FP to inter-disciplinary research, in order

52.
to provide new impulses and lines of thought;

*

*

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Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, as well as to the

53.
Governments and Parliaments of the Member States and candidate countries.

P6_TA(2005)0078

Financing Natura 2000

European Parliament resolution on Financing Natura 2000 (2004/2164(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament

— Financing Natura 2000 (COM(2004)0431),

— having regard to the Convention on Biological Diversity,

— having regard to Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (1)

(‘the Birds Directive’),

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.

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— having regard to its resolution of 20 October 1998 on the communication from the Commission to the

Council and the European Parliament on a European Community biodiversity strategy (1),

— having regard to its resolution of 17 January 2001 on implementation of Directive 92/43/EEC on

habitats (2),

— having regard to the Decision No 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of

22 July 2002 laying down the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme (3),

— having regard to its resolution of 14 March 2002 on the communication from the Commission to the
Council and the European Parliament on the biodiversity action plans in the areas of conservation of
natural resources, agriculture, fisheries, and development and economic cooperation (4),

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and
the opinions of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee on Regional
Development (A6-0049/2005),

A. whereas at the European Council meeting in Gothenburg in June 2001 (5), European Heads of State and
Government made a commitment to reverse the decline of biodiversity in the European Union by the
year 2010,

B. whereas the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme specifies the objective to protect and
where necessary restore the structure and funding of natural systems and halt the loss of biodiversity,
both in the European Union and on a global scale by 2010,

C. whereas the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 recognised that
biodiversity plays a critical role in overall sustainable development and poverty eradication, and is
essential to our planet, human well-being and the livelihood and cultural
integrity of people; and
whereas the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation confirmed the global objective of achieving a signifi-
cant reduction in the current rate of loss of biological diversity by 2010,

D. whereas the Natura 2000 network of protected areas, made up of sites designated under the Birds
Directive and Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats
and of wild fauna and flora (6) (‘the Habitats Directive’), is a key pillar of Community action for the
conservation of biodiversity,

E. whereas in the past most Member States have made limited use of the opportunities under the current
rural development regulation to implement Natura 2000; whereas rural development and regional
development programmes have often worked against EU nature conservation priorities,

F. whereas farmers and forest owners can make a significant contribution to the conservation and sustain-
able use of biodiversity on farmland through their management practices, and in many cases this results
in additional spending which must be adequately compensated,

G. whereas in 2004, out of a total EU budget of EUR 111,3 billion, EU funding for agricultural market
expenditure and direct aid amounted to EUR 40,2 billion, compared to EUR 6,5 billion for rural devel-
opment policy; whereas the present rural development policy is still geared towards structural policy
objectives, rather than ensuring nature protection and supporting environmentally friendly and sustain-
able farming practices,

(1) OJ C 341, 9.11.1998, p. 41.
(2) OJ C 262, 18.9.2001, p. 132.
(3) OJ L 242, 10.9.2002, p. 1.
(4) OJ C 47 E, 27.2.2003, p. 575.
(5) Presidency Conclusions of the Gothenburg European Council 15 and 16 June 2001.
(6) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.

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H. whereas the Commission proposals for the financial perspective covering the period 2007-2013 respect
the decision taken by the Council in 2002 in Brussels to freeze agricultural expenditure at the 2006
level, allowing for a yearly adaptation for inflation of 1 %; whereas these proposals thus foresee an
amount of EUR 301 billion for agricultural spending on market expenditure and direct payments
(on average EUR 43 billion per year) and an amount of EUR 88,75 billion for rural development
measures (on average EUR 12,6 billion); whereas the amounts for rural development include EAGGF
measures formerly financed under Structural Funds,

I. whereas, despite the fact that in 2002 the European Council had not set any ceilings on rural devel-
opment measures, the budget for such measures has also been frozen at the level of 2006, only adding
appropriations for Bulgaria and Romania, which will not allow for the addition of a new major task
such as co-financing the managing of the Natura 2000 network without a corresponding increase in
the budget,

J. whereas the Commission estimates the annual costs of managing the Natura 2000 network at

EUR 6,1 billion per year, without taking into account marine protected areas,

K. whereas the Member States agreed in Malahide (27 May 2004) that arrangements need to be established
which ensure adequate and guaranteed Community co-financing for the Natura 2000 network, and
whereas the Message from Malahide also states that ‘this should include inter alia the enhancement of
Life-Nature funding in the new Financial Instrument for the Environment alongside enhanced funding
from the structural and rural development funds’,

L. whereas the Commission, in its communication on the Financial Perspectives for 2007-2013 (COM
(2004)0487), states that ‘the Commission will require Member States to show how they have taken
the financing needs of the environment, including relevant aspects of Natura 2000, into account in
developing their national programmes under the structural funds …’,

M. whereas the Commission analyses three different scenarios for the future financing of the Natura 2000

network in its communication,

N. whereas the Commission and the Council, in adopting the Habitats Directive in 1992, made a clear
commitment to ensure that landowners and landusers would not bear the financial burden of the
measures in the directive; strongly urging that this promise be kept,

Notes that the Natura 2000 network of protected areas across the EU is one of the main pillars of EU

1.
action on biodiversity and that much of Europe's biodiversity has already been lost;

Notes that healthy ecosystems provide important social and economic resources as well as recreation

2.
opportunities and support for farming and fisheries;

3. Welcomes the initiative of the Commission to propose a strategic approach to co-finance Natura 2000
and the statement made by Commissioner Dimas at the International Conference on ‘Biodiversity, Science
and Governance’ on 24 January 2005 in Paris;

4.
Points out that structural fund funding for Natura 2000 is in accordance with the Cardiff Process of
integrating environmental considerations in all key policy areas, and that it should in any case guarantee
adequate funding within the Structural Fund objectives;

5. Welcomes the Commission statement that the EU rural development and structural funds should make
a substantial contribution towards co-financing the Natura 2000 network; further welcomes the enabling of
financing for Natura 2000 from rural development and structural funds; nevertheless, having examined the
relevant proposals (structural, rural and LIFE+), considers them insufficient for the adequate co-funding of
the Natura 2000 network and therefore also insists that a dedicated fund be set up for this purpose;

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6.
Believes that, as a significant part of Natura 2000 expenditure is to be included in the Rural Devel-
opment Fund and/or the Structural Funds, the endowment of the funds needs to be increased accordingly;

7.
Calls for the establishment after 2006 of a dedicated EU fund for biodiversity within the LIFE+ pro-
posal, providing funding for Natura 2000 management activities that cannot be funded from either struc-
tural or rural development funds;

8.
Believes that the Rural Development Funds can be used to compensate the extra farming costs in
Natura 2000 sites, provided that this does not reduce the required funding for other measures within rural
development, animal welfare, agri-environmental measures and other objectives included in the proposed
Rural Development Funds regulation;

9.
Recognises that, while the integration approach might be effective if it is implemented in a robust
manner, past experience shows success has been limited; considers that the proposed rural development
and structural fund regulations fail to reflect adequate Natura 2000 provisions, failing to deliver upon the
Communication's ambition and putting the EU 2010 biodiversity target at risk, inter alia due to the follow-
ing:

— biodiversity conservation has, until now, not been a major objective of rural development and structural
funds, and may in a local and regional context even conflict with other socio-economic development
objectives;

— co-financing of Natura 2000 sites would compete directly with other economic and social projects,

such as the Trans-European Networks or structural adjustment in farming;

— the programming and management of rural development and structural funds is geared towards foster-
ing regional socio-economic development, and the administrations responsible for managing them
have, at the moment, still limited nature conservation competencies, lacking the expertise and skills
required to manage projects with nature conservation objectives;

— no guarantees such as making the release of structural funding conditional upon adequate national
Natura 2000 financing plans are foreseen although stipulated in the Communication on the Financial
Perspectives;

— structural, rural or LIFE+ proposals in their present form do not guarantee minimum funding for

Natura 2000 nor additional funding to those instruments reflecting this priority;

— no financial support is foreseen for marine and other Natura 2000 sites and species located in areas of

various types of ownership;

10.
Stresses that Natura 2000 sites and nature resources deliver key public benefits, often to economi-
cally isolated areas, including significant direct local spending, increasing tourism potential, significant health
benefits, a growing employment sector at present estimated at 125 000 jobs in the EU-15 and comparable
advantages in the new Member States, educational resources and high value ecological life-support systems;

11.
Considers that the distribution of the funds in question should be proportionate among all the
Member States (old and new ones) and should reflect the size of the territories and the degree of biodiver-
sity of the sites concerned;

Calls on the Commission to adjust its proposal for the Financial Instrument for the Environment,
12.
LIFE+, to include a dedicated biodiversity objective within that fund to provide funding for the management
of Natura 2000 sites complementary to the rural development, structural and the fisheries funds, and com-
plementary to funds made available by the Member States, including for special nature conservation invest-
ments, projects and emergencies; for nature conservation research, education and awareness-raising; and for
cross-border cooperation with third countries on nature conservation projects;

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13.
Calls for changes to the proposal for a Council Regulation laying down general provisions on the
European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund to include specific
reference to Natura 2000 in order to ensure the eligibility of Natura 2000 activities for financing from the
structural funds;

14.
Stresses that the Commission's calculation of the annual cost of the Natura 2000 network of
EUR 6,1 billion is likely to be a significant under-estimate of the full cost of managing the network, and
therefore should only be considered as the minimum necessary; further stresses that the calculation does not
take into account the accession of the new Member States (Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia), and that the
financial needs must be recalculated in order to cover the Natura 2000 network in the whole EU;

15.
Invites the Commission to report to the European Parliament on the implementation of the inte-
grated approach when the outcome of the structural, fisheries and rural development regulations is known,
and in the event that no earmarked funds for Natura 2000 management are included, to make a proposal
for a dedicated fund for this purpose, which should include a policy to provide information on and raise
public awareness of nature-conservation issues, with the aim of highlighting the development-related, econ-
omic and social benefits resulting from the application of the proposed measures;

16. Welcomes the Commission's intention to incorporate nature-conservation policy in the broader
framework of sustainable economic, social and regional development in the European Union; considers,
however, that its final proposal does not demonstrate its firm resolve to provide sufficient funding for this
policy and ensure its successful implementation;

17.
Supports the Commission's intention to publish detailed guidance on how to use the structural funds
to support the Natura 2000 network and calls on the Commission to make good its assurances that Natura
2000 financing will be listed as a priority in the forthcoming Community Strategic Guidelines for Cohesion
Policy;

18.
Calls for the recognition, by means of encouraging and spreading best-practice, of those territorial
units which demonstrate their ability to manage their respective Natura 2000 areas cost-efficiently in both
environmental and financial terms;

Stresses the importance of involving the national parliaments, the social partners, civil society and

19.
regional and local authorities in implementing these objectives, by promoting proper public consultation;

20.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.

P6_TA(2005)0079

Reform of the common organisation of the market in sugar

European Parliament resolution on the forthcoming reform of the common organisation of the
market in sugar

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 of 19 June 2001 on the common organisation

of the markets in the sugar sector (1),

— having regard to the Commission communications to the Council and Parliament on accomplishing a
sustainable agricultural model for Europe and, in particular, reform of the sugar sector (COM(2003)
0554 (2) and COM(2004)0499),

— having regard to the extended impact assessment on the options for reform of the Community sugar

regime (SEC(2003)1022),

(1) OJ L 178, 30.6.2001, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 39/2004 (OJ L 6,

10.1.2004, p. 16).

(2) OJ C 96, 21.4.2004, p. 17.