Agreement on rural development regulation
NFU Cymru has dubiously welcomed news from Brussels that political agreement was reached earlier this week in Luxembourg on the European regulations which will underpin rural development from 2007 to 2013.
Carwyn Jones, Assembly Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside, on his return from Luxembourg, said the agreement was a positive outcome for Wales. NFU Cymru would agree with this statement but does feel the key question of Rural Development funding still remains to be determined.
The new Rural Development Regulation established three different Axis for spending Rural Development funding:
1. Improving competitiveness of farming and forestry
2. Environment and land management
3. Diversification and broader rural development
Originally the EC proposals sought to establish minimum spending rates on each of these axis of 15%, 25% and 15% respectively.
Peredur Hughes, President of NFU Cymru said, "NFU Cymru has consistently opposed the establishment of minimum spends for these axis since we believe this will limit the flexibility of Rural Development programmes to address particular regional issues or priorities. This final agreement, whilst it still upholds minimum spends across axes, reduces the rates to 10% on competitiveness, maintains 25% on land management and reduces the maximum spend to 10% on diversification. The minimum spend on LEADER is also reduced from the original 7% proposed down to 5%.
"Whilst the NFU has opposed the principle of minimum spends mainly because it would have inhibited Wales from delivering the existing RDP measures, the decision to reduce the minimum spends on Axis 1, Axis 3 and LEADER now provides us with more scope to deliver Axis 2 measures which includes Tir Mynydd, Tir Gofal and Tir Cynnal which currently account for around 80% of the Rural Development Plan expenditure in Wales."
The other important issue for Wales in the Rural Development negotiations was the issue of Less Favoured Areas (LFA) and the proposals to redefine these areas. NFU Cymru welcomes the decision to retain the status quo until 2010, by which time new definitions will have to be agreed on the basis of a Commission report and proposals.
NFU Cymru will be involved in the future discussions regarding the new Rural Development Regulation and how it translates into a rural development programme for Wales between 2007 and 2013. A decision regarding voluntary modulation has been deferred and this could have a significant bearing on the funding of schemes such as Tir Gofal and Tir Cynnal.
Peredur Hughes concluded, "Whilst I welcome the increased flexibility that changes to the minimum spend on Axis 1, 3 and LEADER have created, crucial to the success of Wales' next RDP will be the level of funds allocated by the EU to the UK, with the UK having been 'short-changed' in the last round. I will also be looking to the Minister to negotiate and ensure that Wales receives a fair and equitable settlement of Rural Development funds from the UK allocation when it is divided out."
