Abstract:
Rural development policy should strengthen, supplement and adjust
the CAP, in order to encourage diversification and modernisation. The need
for a rural development aid that goes to all farming-related activities and not
just agricultural production was stressed in an amendment and, more aid for
young farmers and for less-advantaged areas was requested. To improve
integration of environmental objectives in the common market organisations,
the new reform enables Member States to make direct aid payments
conditional on compliance with environmental provisions. More specifically,
the measures aim to preserve the environment and European rural heritage
via agri-environmental measures such as organic farming. To help the
further 'greening' of the CAP, the traditional compensatory allowances in
support of farming in less-favoured areas will be extended to areas where
farming is restricted by the existence of specific environmental constraints.
Water, food, oxygen, energy and much more… the environment meets so
many of our vital needs. We owe it to ourselves to protect our environment
and to use it carefully; our health and our very survival are at stake. To use
the traditional definition, sustainable development is "development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs", in other words ensuring that today's
growth does not jeopardise the growth possibilities of future generations.
Sustainable development thus comprises three elements - economic, social
and environmental – which have to be considered in equal measure at the
political level. The strategy for sustainable development, adopted in 2001
and amended in 2005, is complemented inter alia by the principle of
integrating environmental concerns with European policies which impact on
the environment. Every year, some 2 billion tonnes of waste - including
particularly hazardous waste - are produced in the Member States, and this
figure is rising steadily. Stockpiling waste is not a viable solution and
destroying it is unsatisfactory due to the resulting emissions and highly
concentrated, polluting residues. The best solution is, as always, to prevent
the production of such waste, reintroducing it into the product cycle by
recycling its components where there are ecologically and economically
viable methods of doing so.
