Protecţia mediului prin politica agricolă structurală

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.