Measuring progress in nature conservation against the CBD and PEBLDS

Lobbying for sufficient EU funds for rural development and Natura 2000

NGOs call Hungarian Minister of Finance to strive for sufficient funding for the Natura 2000 network and rural development within the new Financial Perspective 2007-20013. The upcoming meeting of the European Council of Ministers will decide on the key priorities of the next financing period. The following letter was sent to the Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs:

Challenges for Building a Sustainable Society:
The EU Financial Perspective 2007-2013
realized

The outcome of the debate on priorities for the next financial perspective will determine the extent to which the sustainable development commitments of the European Union and Hungary¹ are realized.

Sustainable development will ensure long-term prosperity in Europe by preventing the accumulation of social and environmental deficits. To achieve this goal, policymakers must adopt a holistic approach that promotes both social justice and functioning natural systems in order to maintain life-supporting services essential to society and the economy. This entails providing public money for public goods, i.e. for those activities that do not destroy, but rather act in harmony with diverse and stable landscapes and a living countryside.

Thus, we urge you to raise these issues and support a positive outcome with other Ministers at the upcoming meetings of the Council of Ministers.

CEEweb for Biodiversity asks you to ensure that:

1) EUR 21 billion are allocated to the Natura 2000 network of the EU.

Covering around 17% of the EU's territory, the Natura 2000 network protects Europe's most valuable wildlife sites. Many of these sites also provide sustainable livelihoods for persons living in the countryside. European Commission estimates indicate that the total cost of managing the network is EUR 6.1 billion per year , which should be considered an absolute minimum.

Following the principle of environmental integration laid down in EU regulations and the Convention on Biological Diversity, funds must be delivered from the major EU budget lines, particularly the Structural Funds, the Rural Development programme, the LIFE+ environmental financing instrument and the European Fisheries Fund. This is vital to maximize the environmental, economic, employment, health, educational and leisure benefits associated with the network.

In this respect, we ask you to support the proposal from the European Parliament's Rapporteur, Reimer Böge MEP, to allocate EUR 21 billion in the next financial perspective for Natura 2000² .

2) Key budget lines - particularly the Rural Development programme (Pillar 2 of the CAP) and the environment fund (LIFE+) - are not cut regardless of the size of the overall EU budget.

It is understood that the Council is unlikely to accept the overall budget proposed by the Commission for the period 2007-2013, thus various spending programmes are being considered for cuts.

The Rural Development programme (Pillar 2 of the CAP) delivers clear public benefits for the environment and for rural populations (and thus for the society as a whole) through the diversification of the rural economy, improvement of the quality of life in rural areas and the protection and enhancement of wildlife.

The Commission's proposed budget for rural development is already too small to meet the large number of demands placed on it. Any further reductions to the proposed budget would gravely compromise its potential to deliver sustainable development objectives. Thus instead further transfers from CAP market expenditure to rural development are essential.

We urge you to seize the opportunity presented by the adoption of the next financial perspective to ensure that EU funds help meet the major economic, environmental and social challenges Europe is facing.

We would like to arrange for a meeting in order to discuss this issue in greater detail, as well as further developments.

Yours sincerely,

CEEweb for Biodiversity
Hungarian Association of Conservationists
MME - Birdlife Hungary
WWF Hungary

¹ A sustainable Europe for a better world: A European strategy for Sustainable Development (COM(2001)264 final)
Halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 (COM(2001)264 final, Kyiv Resolution on Biodiversity signed by the Hungarian Minister of Environment and Water)
Commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity ratified by Hungary and the European Community

² Given these calculations and the limited availability of EU funds, national governments will still have to provide additional resources for the maintenance of the network, in accordance with their obligations.

This campaign has been carried out in cooperation with the European Environmental Bureau.

CEEweb for Biodiversity is an international network of non-governmental organizations in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. The mission of the network is "the protection of biodiversity through the promotion of sustainable development".
www.ceeweb.org