EU reserveert 678 miljoen euro voor plattelands-ontwikkeling in Tsjechië 2004-2006 (en)

Today, the STAR Committee (Agriculture Structures Committee) gave its favourable opinion to the Czech Horizontal Rural Development Plan (HRDP), which will be co-financed by the "European Agriculture Guarantee and Guidance Fund" (EAGGF) Guarantee section. The EAGGF contributes with a total amount of € 542.8 million during the period of 2004 2006, which will be complemented with national public funding of € 135.7 million. In the Czech Republic there is a tradition of farming, and a traditional symbiosis between farming and forestry. There are also considerable areas of valuable habitats, in particular numerous areas of permanent grasslands. The Czech Republic has taken these factors into account and with this rural development plan aims to mitigate the differences in farm profitability in less-favoured areas that result from natural conditions, to improve the unfavourable age structure of farmers, to reduce the share of arable land in the total agricultural land area and to provide to a sufficient extent for the farming of agricultural land in conformity with the principles of Good Farming Practice. The formal approval decision will be taken by the Commission in the coming weeks.

Franz Fischler, Commissioner for Agriculture, rural development and fisheries said "It is good to see that we are on target for a rapid implementation of this rural development plan. This sends a positive signal to the population of the rural areas of the Czech republic that we are committed to help them in their ambition to have a more competitive and sustainable agriculture sector, to improve incomes and create new jobs opportunities."

The strategy chosen takes account several strategic objectives. The choice results from a thorough analysis of the existing situation in the field of rural development and agriculture in the Czech Republic.

The programme intends to preserve farming in less-favoured areas, to improve the income situation of farmers, especially in the less-favoured areas and to act against their migration from the less-favoured areas. It also aims to maintain and protect the environment (with an emphasis on the water component) and cultural landscape. In addition, the programme intends to improve the structure of agricultural workforce (in terms of age and education). It supports alternative use of agricultural land primarily through afforestation, setting up producer groups for the marketing of products, and it intends to support renewable environmentally friendly energy sources.

The measures have been chosen as follows:

Early retirement from farming - This measure aims to provide adequate income and fair living conditions for elderly farmers (over 55 years old) who decide to stop active farming (commercial) as well as to encourage the replacement of such elderly farmers by younger farmers able to improve the economic viability of farms and to ensure their structural adaptation.

Less-favoured areas and areas with environmental restrictions - This measure aims to ensure adequate income for farms operating in more difficult conditions, to contribute to a sustainable use of agricultural land and to the protection of other natural resources (especially water resources), to contribute to a stabilisation of rural population, to maintain the attractiveness of landscape (landscape character), and to support environmentally friendly farming systems.

Agri-environmental measures - The measure is designed to promote ways of using agricultural land, which are compatible with the protection and improvement of the environment, the landscape and its features. It supports the preservation of farmed areas of high nature value, natural resources and biological diversity, and the landscape maintenance. It also aims to accelerate runoff of water from landscape, to address problems of soil erosion, to support the ecological stability of landscape and to preserve and enhance biological diversity on farmed land.

The agri-environmental scheme includes organic farming, grassland maintenance, landscape upkeep, conversion of arable land into grassland, establishment of grass belts on sloping ground, growing of catch crops, permanently waterlogged meadows and peatland meadows, bird habitats on grassland, Bio-belts and Crop rotation in cave protection zones. (Moravsky kras)

Forestry

Afforestation The aim here is to permanently reduce the area of farmed land, to extend woodland areas and to strengthen landscape biodiversity. It also aims to strengthen the dimension of rural sustainability, to adapt farm structures with the aim of ensuring other sources of income through diversification of farm activities, and finally to improve the ecological balance of rural areas.

Planting of fast-growing wood species designed for use in energy generation - This measure aims to reduce the area of farmed land used to produce foodstuffs, to reduce the production of greenhouse gases by increasing the share of renewable energy sources in total energy sources, to reduce air pollution (especially by sulphur oxides) resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels, to increase biodiversity and to improve the ecological balance of landscape, to improve the social and economic conditions in rural areas, and to provide for a more stable financial situation of farms by changing their income structure through diversification of business activities.

Setting up producer groups - This measure is to support the establishment of agricultural producer groups and their associations for the common marketing of basic agricultural products. It also provides help to adapt the supports adaptation of agricultural products of these producer groups to the market requirements of wholesalers and processors. At the same time, it provides support for increasing the added value of the jointly marketed produce and improving its sales value by through preparation of deliveries, grading, storage, uniform quality and centralisation of sales, etc.

Technical assistance - This measure aims to develop a system for the monitoring of the HRDP, to ensure an effective monitoring of the HRDP, to ensure the evaluation of the HRDP by an independent evaluator, to provide for the flow of information between the CR and the EU about the fulfilment of the HRDP, to ensure a sufficient awareness of potential applicants and other partners of the possibility to participate in the HRDP, to provide an advisory consultation before the submission of an application and in the course of the programme's fulfilment and to inform the public about the EU role in the HRDP.