European Charter for Rural Areas
Doc. 7507
20 March 1996
REPORT [1]
Rapporteurs: Mrs ANTTILA, Finland, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group and Mr SEILER, Switzerland, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group
Summary
The rural areas of Europe account for 85% of its total surface and are home to more than half of its population. The rapid urbanisation following industrialisation during this century has drastically reduced the rural population in most countries and diminished the relative economic importance of agriculture (including forestry and fisheries).
The natural and man-made European countryside, in its diversity, offers beauty, peace and recreation to Europeans and to visitors coming from other continents. It is host to a rich flora and fauna and it is an important part of our cultural heritage. It is the source of most of Europe's food. Timber, minerals and renewable raw materials for industry and the energy sector come from rural areas.
The sustainable exploitation of the resources of the European countryside must be stimulated by giving rural development a new political framework. This objective can be reached by the adoption of a European Charter for Rural Areas, which will set out the main principles of a new policy for the countryside. This report presents a model for such a charter and gives guidelines for sectorial policies promoting rural development and at the same time protecting the natural and man-made rural heritage. It stresses the importance of favouring and encouraging local initiative and subsidiarity. Of particular importance is the development of human resources in rural areas and the creation of diversified rural employment. The report suggests sharing European experiences and continuously monitoring rural policies by creating a Standing Committee on European Rural Areas.
This report is the result of a concerted European action in favour of rural development involving a large number of European professional and rural organisations, local and regional authorities, parliamentarians, governments and the European Union.
I. Draft recommendation
1. The Assembly refers to its many recommendations and resolutions on rural development and on the importance of maintaining a living European countryside, in particular the recent Resolution 1069 (1995) on the activities of OECD in 1994. It commends the Committee of Ministers and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe on the many positive actions they have taken over the years in favour of rural society, the protection of the natural and man-made landscapes and their biodiversity.
2. In particular, the Assembly welcomes the recommendations resulting from these activities for sustainable management of natural resources and for the protection of the rural cultural heritage.
3. It also welcomes the positive action taken by the European Union and its institutions in favour of rural development.
4. It highly appreciates the contribution of a large number of European non-governmental organisations to the maintenance and development of rural society.
5. The Assembly considers, however, that further action is needed at the pan-European level for the improvement of social and economic justice and stability between urban and rural regions, in particular by favouring the creation of new rural employment and by the upgrading of traditional employment in rural areas.
6. It therefore congratulates its Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development for its important work of drawing up guidelines for a new political framework for rural development and expresses its thanks to all the organisations and persons who were involved in this work.
7. Consequently, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers, in co-operation with the European Union:
i. instruct a committee of experts, composed of senior officials with special competence in rural matters and legislation, to prepare a legal instrument for rural development on the lines of the attached model;
ii. invite the competent organisations and institutions to participate in the work of this committee of experts;
iii. present the draft text to the Assembly for an opinion before its final adoption.
MODEL
EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR RURAL AREAS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preamble
PART I: PURPOSE OF THE CHARTER - DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A RURAL AREA
Article 1 Purpose
Article 2 Definition and characteristics of a rural area
PART II: FUNCTIONS OF RURAL AREAS
Article 3 Foundations of legal protection
Article 4 Economic function
Article 5 Ecological function
Article 6 Socio-cultural function
PART III: RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES
Article 7 Specific needs of rural areas
Article 8 Guidelines and measures of a policy for rural areas
PART IV: MEANS AND INSTRUMENTS
Article 9 Legal and administrative instruments
Article 10 Financial instruments
PART V: SUBSIDIARITY
Article 11 Local and regional authorities
PART VI: STANDING COMMITTEE ON EUROPEAN RURAL AREAS
Article 12 Composition and functioning
Article 13 Powers
Article 14 Report on the application of the Charter
Article 15 Publication of proceedings
PART VII: FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 16 Signature and ratification
Article 17 Entry into force
Article 18 Accession of non-member states
Article 19 Territorial clause
Article 20 Denunciation
Article 21 Notifications
APPENDIX: GUIDELINES AND MEASURES OF A POLICY FOR RURAL AREAS
Preamble
The member states of the Council of Europe, Signatories to this Charter,
1. Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is the achievement of greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals which are their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progress;
2. Considering that improvement of living and working conditions in rural areas, through the implementation of appropriate measures will contribute to social and economic progress in Europe;
3. Considering that, in view of the progress of European integration and the increasing interdependence of states and regions, such measures should be pan-European;
4. Being resolved to produce a new action framework for the development of rural areas in harmony and in balance with the management of urban regions in Europe, and at the same time adopt a sustainable resource management policy entrusting the agricultural, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries sectors, in addition to their traditional functions, with new tasks (preservation of nature and landscapes, production of renewable raw materials for industry and the energy sector, participation in rural tourism and leisure activities, etc.);
5. Considering that this framework, called the European Charter for Rural Areas, should define the principles of rural development with viable agricultural, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries sectors, a healthy environment and a capacity for attracting economic activities and retaining and developing the human capital; it should also protect and foster the rich and diversified European cultural rural heritage;
6. Considering that European co-operation should accordingly be strengthened to facilitate this process and that the principle of sustainable development in natural and rural areas should be increasingly incorporated in all policies including commercial policies;
7. Taking account of the relevant provisions in existing Council of Europe legal instruments, such as:
- the European Social Charter (Strasbourg, 1961; ETS 35), its additional Protocol (Strasbourg, 1988; ETS 128) and the Protocol amending the Charter (Strasbourg, 1991; ETS 142),
- the European Convention on the social protection of farmers (Strasbourg, 1974; ETS 83),
- the European Convention for the protection of animals kept for farming purposes (Strasbourg, 1976; ETS 87),
- the Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats (Bern, 1979; ETS 104),
- the European Outline Convention on transfrontier co-operation between territorial communities or authorities (Madrid, 1980; ETS 106),
- the Convention for the protection of the architectural heritage of Europe (Grenada, 1985; ETS 121),
- the European Charter of local self-government (Strasbourg, 1985; ETS 122),
- the European Convention on the protection of the archaeological heritage (revised) (Strasbourg, 1992; ETS 143),
- the European Charter for regional or minority languages (Strasbourg, 1992; ETS 148);
as well as:
- the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 5 June 1992);
Have agreed as follows:
PART I
PURPOSE OF THE CHARTER
DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A RURAL AREA
Article 1 - Purpose
Each Party shall take legislative and administrative measures to ensure that policies for their rural areas are developed in accordance with the principles defined hereafter.
Article 2 - Definition and characteristics of a rural area
For the purposes of this Charter, the term "rural area" denotes a stretch of inland or coastal countryside, including small towns and villages, where the main part of the area is used for:
- agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries
- economic and cultural activities of country-dwellers (crafts, industry, services, etc),
- non-urban recreation and leisure areas [or natural reserves],
- other purposes, such as for housing.
The agricultural (including forestry, aquaculture and fisheries) and non-agricultural parts of a rural area form a whole distinguishable from an urban area, which is characterised by a high concentration of inhabitants and of vertical or horizontal structures.
PART II
FUNCTIONS OF RURAL AREAS
Article 3 - Foundations of legal protection
a. Each Party shall draw up and implement a general spatial planning programme which takes account of applicable existing international instruments and which defines the economic, ecological and socio-cultural functions of each rural area to which this Charter applies.
b. Each Party shall inform the SCERA (see Part VI, page 10) on the status assigned to its rural areas as well as on the areas which have been excluded from the implementation of this Charter in order to allow a follow-up of the application of the Charter in the member states.
Article 4 - Economic function
Each Party shall ensure that rural areas can fulfil their economic function, in particular by:
- guaranteeing a system of agricultural production enabling all of the following:
i. the whole population's food needs to be met;
ii. farmers and their families to be assured of an appropriate level of income comparable with that of other professions bearing a similar degree of
responsibility, thus maintaining a basic source of income for the rural population;
iii. the environment to be protected, providing for the regeneration of production resources such as soil or water-tables for future generations, in the spirit of sustainable development.
- producing renewable raw materials for use in industry and the production of energy,
- accommodating small and medium-sized firms of an agricultural, industrial, craft and commercial nature as well as suppliers of services,
- providing a base for recreation and tourism;
- preserving genetic resources as the basis of agriculture and biotechnology.
Article 5 - Ecological function
Each Party shall ensure that each rural area fulfils its ecological function and in particular:
- safeguards the natural bases of life - earth, water and air - through judicious and sustainable use;
- protects available and environmentally functional biotopes and "green spaces";
- maintains and preserves landscapes;
- preserves and protects biodiversity, particularly genetic diversity, the diversity of species and the diversity of landscapes;
- protects wild animals, by means of the necessary legal instruments, and under appropriate ecological conditions.
Article 6 - Socio-cultural function
Each Party shall ensure that each rural area fulfils and fosters the preservation and development of its socio-cultural roles, including through local associations and the development of relations between urban inhabitants and country-dwellers, making full use of modern information technology under equal user and consumer conditions for rural and urban areas.
PART III
RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES
Article 7 - Specific needs of rural areas
Each Party, in the definition and implementation of its policy regarding development of economy and technology, regional planning, protection of biodiversity, agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry, horticulture, social infrastructure, tourism, education
and international relations, shall take into consideration the specific needs of the rural areas concerned, respecting the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity.
Article 8 - Guidelines and measures of a policy for rural areas
In the review of its sectoral policies in accordance with Article 7, each Party shall take into account the guidelines and measures of a policy for rural areas which appear in the Appendix to this Charter.
PART IV
MEANS AND INSTRUMENTS
Article 9 - Legal and administrative instruments
For the purpose of implementing the policy for rural areas set out in this Charter, each Contracting Party shall create appropriate legal and administrative instruments, some of which are covered by national legislation concerning spatial planning, others by treaties instituting international or transfrontier co-operation, and yet others by the jurisdiction of regional or local authorities or institutions.
a. The Parties undertake, in particular, to introduce public and private-law protection standards for sensitive areas, particularly rural areas containing coastlines or mountain ranges.
b. In addition, the Parties shall draft legislation providing for instruments to protect rural areas from intensive or uncontrolled urban development; such instruments can range from master plans or schemes, governed by town and country planning law, to contracts between countries or programmes involving municipalities, associations, or citizens' groups, on the one hand, and state, federal or regional authorities, on the other.
c. Each Party shall take the necessary legislative, administrative and financial measures to repair those parts of the rural territory which have been damaged by former economic activities, restore their natural elements, or recultivate them, taking into account economic aspects.
d. The Parties undertake to define and implement an agricultural, aquaculture, forestry, fisheries, etc. policy aimed at maintaining economic activity in rural areas and guaranteeing the functions defined in Articles 3 to 6 of this Charter.
e. For frontier regions, the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities or Authorities, known as the Madrid Convention, will serve as reference in the matter.
Article 10 - Financial instruments
The Parties shall endeavour to implement a policy of state and regional financial aid for rural areas using the principle of subsidiarity and the measures set out in the guidelines in the Appendix to this Charter.
The Parties shall co-operate on all the foregoing points with the various institutions, organisations and associations that deal with the development of rural areas.
PART V
SUBSIDIARITY
Article 11 - Local and regional authorities
The Parties shall develop the role and powers of local and regional authorities in order to strengthen the endogenous development of rural regions, in particular by implementing the principles and guidelines mentioned in this Charter and its Appendix, pursuant to the principle of subsidiarity.
PART VI
STANDING COMMITTEE ON EUROPEAN RURAL AREAS
(SCERA)
Article 12 - Composition and functioning
a. A Standing Committee on European Rural Areas, (SCERA), shall be set up within a year of the entry into force of this Charter.
b. Each Party shall be represented on the SCERA. The Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) may be represented on the Committee in an observer capacity
c. Any member state of the Council of Europe that is not a Party to the Charter may be represented on the SCERA by an observer.
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe may invite any state that is not a member of the Council of Europe to be represented by an observer at the meetings of the SCERA.
Any organisation, non-governmental organisation or institution with the relevant qualifications may apply to the Committee of Ministers for observer status with the SCERA.
d. The SCERA shall be convened by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. It shall hold its first meeting within one year from the entry into force of the Charter. It shall subsequently meet at least every other year and, in addition, whenever the majority of the Contracting Parties so request.
e. A majority of contracting Parties constitutes the quorum required for a meeting of the SCERA to be held.
f. The SCERA shall draw up its own rules of procedure subject to the provisions of this Charter.
Article 13 - Powers
1. The Standing Committee on European Rural Areas shall be responsible for facilitating and improving the implementation of this Charter. It may in particular:
- keep the provisions of this Charter and the appended guidelines under review;
- make recommendations to the Parties on measures to be taken for the implementation of the Charter;
- recommend appropriate measures for keeping the public informed of activities carried out within the framework of the Charter;
- make recommendations to the Committee of Ministers;
- make any proposal aimed at improving the effectiveness of the Charter.
2. The SCERA may, on its own initiative, convene groups of experts for the performance of its tasks.
Article 14 - Report on the application of the Charter
After each of its meetings, the Standing Committee on European Rural Areas shall transmit a report on its proceedings and on the implementation of the Charter to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
Article 15 - Publication of proceedings
The Standing Committee on European Rural Areas shall periodically - at least every five years - transmit a detailed report on the application of this Charter to the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe.
PART VII
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 16 - Signature and ratification
This Charter shall be open for signature by the member states of the Council of Europe. It shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval. Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
Article 17 - Entry into force
1. This Charter shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date on which five member states of the Council of Europe have expressed their consent to be bound by the Charter in accordance with the provisions of Article 16.
2. In respect of any member state which subsequently expresses its consent to be bound by it, the Charter shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of deposit of the instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval.
Article 18 - Accession of non-member states
1. After the entry into force of this Charter, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe may invite any state not member of the Council of Europe and the European Union to accede to the Charter.
2. In respect of any acceding state, the Charter shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of deposit of the instrument of accession with the General Secretary of the Council of Europe.
Article 19 - Territorial clause
1. Any state may, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, specify the territory or territories to which this Charter shall apply.
2. Any Party may, when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, or accession or at any subsequent time, extend the application of this Charter, by a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, to any other territory specified in the declaration for whose international relations it is responsible and on whose behalf it is authorised to give undertakings.
Article 20 - Denunciation
1. Any Party may at any time denounce this Charter by means of a notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
2. Such denunciation shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of six months after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary General.
Article 21 - Notifications
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify the member states of the Council of Europe and any state which has acceded to this Charter of:
a. any signature;
b. the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;
c. any date of entry into force of this Charter in accordance with Articles 16 and 17;
d. any report drawn up pursuant to Articles 14 and 15;
e. any other act, notification, declaration or communication relating to this Charter.
In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Charter.
Done at Strasbourg, this ... day of ........, in English and French, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy which shall be deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit certified copies to each member state of the Council of Europe and to each state invited to accede to this Charter.
APPENDIX
GUIDELINES AND MEASURES OF A POLICY FOR RURAL AREAS
intended as guidance for the Parties to this Charter
in the sense of Article 8 of the Charter
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Guideline 1 Principles
Guideline 2 Spatial planning in rural areas
Guideline 3 Infrastructures, transport and facilities
Guideline 4 Education, training, research and awareness-raising
Guideline 5 Employment and incomes
Guideline 6 Agriculture and agricultural policy
Guideline 7 Forestry
Guideline 8 Tourism
Guideline 9 Small and medium-sized businesses, commerce, industry and crafts
Guideline 10 Housing and health
Guideline 11 Culture
Guideline 12 Environment, nature and landscapes
Guideline 13 Scientific and technical co-operation
Guideline 14 Decision-making processes, subsidiarity
Guideline 15 Central and Eastern Europe
Guideline 1 - Principles
a. Europe's countryside (including its coastline) is a historical and precious cultivated landscape in which people live and work and whose maintenance is an important social issue, yet is also of economic value.
The countryside can only fulfil its role of supplier and source of recreation and equilibrium, as increasingly demanded by society, if it remains an attractive and self-reliant place to live, with
- a good infrastructure;
- viable farming, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries sectors;
- convenient accessibility for non-agricultural economic activities;
- a healthy environment and a well-tended landscape.
b. The existing threats to rural areas, in particular to agriculture, give rise to the calls for an integrated social and economic policy that follow the regional (rural development) and farming policy. These policies should resolutely be brought into line with one another to form a harmonious whole. They should take account of the equality and complementarity of urban and rural areas.
c. The principle of sustainable development should be reflected in all policies applicable to rural areas and these policies (guidelines 2 to 14) should be integrated.
d. Such a plan for the development of the countryside should be based on regional factors, support local initiatives and rely on endogenous development in every way possible;
- people and their problems should henceforth take centre stage in terms of plans and decisions;
- the positive aspects of rural society and in particular of traditional family life should be preserved in order to favour the development of young people and their integration into the community;
- community identity should be reinforced, as should a sense of self-reliance, co-operation and creativity;
- the cultural and historical characteristics of the countryside should be preserved and allowed to flourish.
- diversification, as well as relations between the rural population and the rest of the population, should be promoted.
Guideline 2 - Spatial planning in rural areas
a. The implementation of spatial planning policies in rural areas should permit the sustainable development of agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, fisheries, craft trades, industry, tourism and services; it should encourage the pursuit of complementary activities and preserve the environment there.
b. All spatial planning policies in rural areas should be based on the humanist principle that people are the focal point of any planning and decision-making. Pursuant to this principle, Parties to this Charter should implement spatial planning for rural areas that has regard first and foremost to the needs and interests of the populations concerned and at the same time respects the principle of sustainability. The principle of transparency should be applied in connection with any construction or infrastructure project of general interest (airports, motorways, high-speed trains, etc) by supplying the population concerned with all relevant information in the implementation of such projects and consulting them by means of a referendum.
c. Parties should draw up spatial planning policies fostering closer inter-municipal, inter-regional and even transfrontier co-operation.
d. Spatial planning policies for rural areas should be covered by a general plan that takes account of all the characteristics of such areas in relation to the functions assigned thereto in Part II of this Charter (pages 7-8).
Guideline 3 - Infrastructures, transport and facilities
Parties should provide rural areas with up-to-date supply and infrastructure networks that meet their needs. As these are prerequisites for enabling rural areas to continue to perform their socio-economic functions, Parties should consider that effects of scale should not be the sole criterion for the provision or maintenance of such facilities. This principle applies equally to the telecommunications sector, the road system, public transport, financial services in accordance with the specific needs of agricultural economy (in the broadest sense), and all kinds of facilities in the educational or service sectors. Parties should integrate rural regions into a modern transport and communication network compatible with the character and the environmental quality of the rural areas concerned and not solely governed by short-term economic considerations.
Guideline 4 - Education, training, research and awareness-raising
a. Human capital (people with their diverse skills) is the most valuable asset in rural communities as elsewhere, and developing and maintaining it therefore should have top priority.
b. To guarantee equal access and entitlement to education, Parties should maintain schools in rural areas and organise them in accordance with local requirements. They should also adapt and develop new educational technologies.
c. Decentralised education and further education opportunities should be promoted and geared towards future job opportunities; school children and apprentices
in the countryside (boys and girls) should be given the same educational opportunities as those from urban areas.
d. Parties should develop and expand technical and vocational courses in rural areas at primary, secondary and higher levels. They should in particular arrange for the setting up of teams of specialised instructors and the provision of appropriate training programmes, especially in agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, fisheries, rural crafts and advanced technologies, and in general in all the branches of activity necessary for successful rural planning and development.
e. Parties should develop programmes to encourage respect for the natural environment and an appreciation of the historical and cultural heritage of rural areas as well as the significance for society of rural areas.
Guideline 5 - Employment and incomes
If rural communities are to stay alive, rural people need satisfactory levels of income. This requires a variety of attractive employment opportunities, and not just in agriculture, forestry, aquaculture or fisheries. These should, however, be tailored to the specific features of regions and localities. They include:
- giving priority to those activities and initiatives that are geared towards endogenous development and above all are managed and financed by the rural community itself;
- fostering the diversification and adaptation of production structures, especially in regions dominated by a particular economic branch or sector where the risk of recession is high;
- fostering multiple activity and the harmonious integration of different countryside activities;
- fostering the production of goods and services when it enhances the rural communities' special non-manual and manual skills and making full use of any under-used resources (timber, water, stone, land or the production of renewable sources of energy);
- creating high added value of small and medium-sized businesses by means of technology transfers, tax relief, advice, financial aid, etc.
Guideline 6 - Agriculture and agricultural policy
a. Agriculture and nature maintenance work are vital functions for rural areas in all parts of Europe. A viable agricultural sector that is structured along rural lines (viable family farms), close to nature, sustainable and multifunctional will contribute to maintain these vital functions. Agricultural policy therefore takes on a central role.
b. The role of agriculture in society has fundamentally changed in European countries since the Second World War. Changing values and circumstances (higher incomes, surpluses, agrarian revolution, international trade, environmental demands and
so on) have influenced the population's attitude to agriculture. The original and traditional function of agriculture as a food producer and supplier has lost importance, particularly because of continuing overproduction, falling agricultural prices and the international opening and liberalisation of agricultural markets. At the same time other "non-importable" functions of agriculture have gained importance.
Today we have multifunctional agriculture, whose main tasks and functions can be summarised as follows:
i. guaranteeing food security (a priority which will gain in importance in the longer term in view of the population explosion and the destruction of the environment and resources throughout the world);
ii. the production of renewable raw materials;
iii. preserving and tending the landscape, also as a recreation area and the basic capital for tourism, while bearing in mind that the rural landscape has also been an agricultural landscape for centuries;
iv. preserving rural values, lifestyles, cultural assets and similar social functions for the community;
v. keeping healthy the elements vital to our survival (soil, water, air...) and seeing to it that they are used for sustainable agriculture with corresponding forms of production and animal husbandry (concern for the long-term balance of our eco-system);
vi. helping to ensure that rural areas remain viable and that there is healthy, economic, social and cultural life in the countryside.
c. These functions, which serve the public interest - also known as "public goods" -are linked to the production of agricultural produce. Until now they were fairly well compensated for by the prices of products. However, this is no longer the case in view of the liberalisation of agricultural markets and falling agricultural prices. In general, farmers' relative incomes are falling, many are leaving the countryside, particularly those in less viable areas, and the general functions (social, cultural, economic and ecological) demanded by society are no longer being adequately fulfilled. This fatal process needs to be halted through the creation of alternative employment outside agriculture and an agricultural policy that is geared to the multifunctional type of agriculture, with extended tasks in the service of society.
d. In this context, farm income policy receives a new dimension and needs to be enlarged. The delivery of the above-mentioned "public goods" may need to be encouraged by public support, including direct payments, following the principle: linked functions, but separate payments. This requires an ad hoc system of direct and complementary payments (ref. Swiss model introduced in 1992 - Art. 31a and 31b of the agricultural law); the EU agricultural policy reform also contains such elements.
e. The policy of decoupling with direct income payments, however, has its financial limits; some countries cannot apply it at all. Therefore, even for the future, the income of
farmers will need to come from a comprehensive entrepreneurial activity with the following priority areas:
1. efficient production and marketing, including exportation and high level of value added, thus retaining economic benefits in rural areas,
2. non-farm activities (tourism, etc),
3. direct income payments for general services to society, which have to be higher in less favoured (mountain) areas and which should be supplemented by a premium for special ecological efforts (bio-farming, etc).
f. Production conditions and the general conditions of agriculture as well as society's wishes and the requirements of agriculture, vary enormously throughout the world and even within Europe. Accordingly, each region has the right (duty) to find adequate and independent solutions and to take appropriate measures, particularly in three core areas:
. food security;
. income levels and social protection for farming families;
. environmental standards.
g. From this point of view, then, the concept of free trade in its purest form is not suited to agriculture. Reasonable import protection measures, within the framework of rules for fair international trade, are indispensable for many countries, even for agriculture in favoured regions when European agriculture has higher production costs as a result of more stringent ecological requirements and animal welfare legislation or other handicaps to competitiveness. International openness, co-operation and solidarity, as well as binding (GATT, World Trade Organisation (WTO)) rules for fair agricultural trade, are however equally as important. Agricultural policy must in principle remain a national or EU responsibility, in accordance with the subsidiarity principle, particularly in the spheres of structural and social policy as well as with regard to direct income payments. Though the indispensable corollary is that each country abide by agreed rules and exercise production and export discipline, further international negotiations are needed to find a better solution to these problems.
h. Within the agricultural policy advocated in this Charter, the decision-making power should, as far as possible be left with each of the member countries (or where appropriate, the European Union) by implementation of the subsidiarity principle.
i. Food policies should, on the one hand, respond to market needs, but, on the other hand, should also be guided by a strategy of guaranteeing access to food for all on a permanent basis. Thus, international trade in agricultural commodities should enhance food security and should also benefit rural development. A careful monitoring of trade policies is needed in order to assure such positive effects. The role of local markets should, however, not be neglected or under-estimated. These are of fundamental importance to rural economic development.
j. In the wake of the process of industrialisation, rural areas have lost many of the functions they also used to fulfil for the cities, including the supply of renewable raw
materials and sources of energy. Rural areas should again assume these tasks, using modern, appropriate technology, this in view of the global ecological crisis and the fact that fossil raw materials are finite; such developments should primarily be encouraged by using fiscal measures.
k. The ecological consequences of intensive production methods in agriculture can be an insidious process of natural destruction: soil erosion, biological impoverishment, pollution, etc. Appropriate ecologically-balanced production methods should be promoted at national level as well as internationally. Adequate ecological accountability and binding minimum environmental standards are therefore the order of the day. This poses a major new challenge for the WTO.
l. Concerning farm structure, the Parties should promote as far as possible farming businesses of human dimensions and reasonable size (bearing in mind the realities of agriculture in each country), which enable the farming family to be maintained on an economically viable basis in rural areas.
In the event of legislation being drawn up on agricultural businesses, Parties should give their preference for private-law companies as opposed to public-law companies controlled and financed by the state. Other co-operative structures may co-exist with the "family farm".
m. The farmer as an entrepreneur should be able to exercise his/her activity as freely as possible. Private property should be protected; taxation arrangements favourable to the transfer of moveable and immovable assets of farming businesses should be adopted.
n. Parties should confer the status of a private individual fulfilling a public service (general interest) function on farmers whose agricultural practices are consistent with the requirements of environmental and nature conservation law and who perform tasks serving to maintain the countryside. To this end, Parties could work out a legal set of contractual arrangements that define the role of such farmers and determine their remuneration, while in all cases preserving their status as free entrepreneurs.
o. Finally, the following measures should be considered when deciding agricultural policies, which in all cases need to be tailored to specific local circumstances as well as to international agreements:
- investment aid for the improvement of agricultural infrastructure;
- start-up assistance and targeted incentive strategies;
- production policy geared to demand and local conditions;
- increased public efforts within the spheres of advising and education of individual farmers;
- the promotion of appropriate forms of animal husbandry that are non-intensive and environment-friendly;
- greater rationalisation of production, marketing and sales; encouragement of the development of product sectors by means of incentives for the creation of producers' and interprofessional groups;
- introduction of legal instruments to ensure the quality of products and promote their marketing, such as the institution of standards and quality labels for regional products, as well as legislation to protect trade names and marks and, in general, all signs serving to identify the provenance of a product;
- public-health monitoring of foodstuffs for the protection of consumers, but never for the unfair protection of certain categories of producers;
- promotion of ecologically enhanced methods of production and of biodiversity by means of, for example, direct premiums (ecological contribution);
- the encouragement of non-intensive farming and alternative land uses (for recreation, production of renewable raw materials, etc);
- support for individual efforts and co-operation among farmers;
- programmes and measures for disadvantaged regions;
- promotion of sustainable hunting (of considerable importance for many rural regions);
- the encouragement of auxiliary or supplementary activities;
- a system of effective social protection on a par with other sectors of the economy;
- etc.
Guideline 7 - Forestry
a. Parties should take all appropriate measures to preserve and protect existing forests and to reafforest areas abandoned by agriculture or set aside as part of the policy to reduce production. Afforestation is a long-term investment.
b. Parties should, moreover, encourage the establishment of forestry businesses by means of aid similar to the start-up assistance granted to farmers.
c. Finally, Parties should take appropriate legal and fiscal measures to implement a policy for the development of the timber sector in forest areas where this sector is inadequate or deficient, taking into account the ecological function of the area concerned.
d. The importance of agriculture and forestry as a sector of the economy cannot be adequately gauged from their current share of economic net product or from the number of people they employ. Instead, agriculture and forestry should be viewed in terms of their food security, raw material and ecological balance functions, and their socio-political significance should, in particular, be acknowledged.
Guideline 8 - Tourism
a. Parties should take all necessary legal, fiscal and administrative measures to develop tourism in rural areas in general and agricultural tourism in particular, taking account of the carrying capacity of the areas concerned. In particular this can be done by encouraging the provision of rural hostels and by ensuring that farmers who offer tourist accommodation on their farm in addition to their agricultural activities are encouraged to do so.
b. In implementing this policy, Parties should aim for a balance between the indispensable development of tourism, the protection of nature and the potential offered by existing infrastructures and services by maintaining the quality of the landscape and the environment and preserving traditional architecture and materials.
Guideline 9 - Small and medium-sized businesses, commerce, industry and crafts
Parties should take measures for the purpose of:
a. promoting small and medium-sized businesses of an industrial, commercial or craft nature: on the one hand, by improving the framework conditions through the simplification of administrative and fiscal procedures and through tax concessions for investment; and, on the other hand, by improving infrastructures and by granting reduced-interest loans to businesses and entrepreneurs. Finally, it could be useful and efficient to reduce taxes to encourage small traders to remain in business in rural communities;
b. providing appropriate facilities for the integration and counselling of businesses;
c. promoting the establishment of advanced, high-technology companies with high added value, as well as service companies using automatic data transmission and processing systems;
d. fostering the improvement of the production, processing and marketing of regional products as well as assisting schemes in favour of high-quality craft activities.
Guideline 10 - Housing and health
In conformity with Article 11 of the Charter, Parties should take steps to:
a. make accommodation available to permanent residents and regulate the construction of second homes;
b. promote the rehabilitation and renovation of dwellings and the restoration of abandoned buildings with due respect for traditional designs and local materials, in particular by granting financial aid; and, at the same time, ensure that providers of public amenities maintain and improve such amenities (water supply, public drainage, street lighting, sewage works, etc);
c. ensure the quality of housing and a style of architecture appropriate to the landscape, thus further developing the European cultural landscape;
d. ensure the provision of necessary health services in rural areas, of an equal standard to those existing in urban areas. Health services can be provided through a permanent link with a doctor and a hospital and regular medical treatment provided through mobile facilities (travelling doctors).
Guideline 11 - Culture
Parties should maintain and protect the richness and diversity of the cultural and archaeological heritage of rural areas and regions as well as promote a cultural momentum there by taking the following measures:
a. inventorying, enhancing and publicising the rural historical and cultural heritage, including the skills of rural life;
b. protecting and developing the traditions and cultural forms of expression as well as regional languages in accordance with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages;
c. strengthening the regional cultural identity of rural inhabitants and stimulating community activities;
d. promoting the rural and local gastronomic heritage.
Guideline 12 - Environment, nature and landscapes
a. Nature and landscapes need care and attention. It is therefore important:
- to seek to achieve the rational and sustainable management of natural resources and to maintain living environments and biodiversity;
- to conserve all landscapes of outstanding interest and, where possible, restore semi-natural and manmade landscapes;
- to conserve the beauty and special features of the countryside by restoring villages and rustic buildings and if possible repairing the damage to nature and the landscape;
- to record areas where long-standing species or breeds of livestock, traditional rural landscapes, or traditional farming techniques exist;
- to preserve and manage forests - starting with protected forest;
- to ensure that urban areas do not allow their environmental problems (waste) to spill over into the countryside and that rural and urban communities alike take responsibility for their own waste and noxious substances;
- to ensure that the applicable provisions in international legal instruments on the protection of the environment, nature and landscapes, are strictly respected;
- to take due account of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy.
b. Environmental policy should take measures:
- for the protection and management of land, water, and air and for the conservation of flora and fauna and their habitats;
- for the demarcation of areas where building, infrastructures, traffic and other activities detrimental to the environment are limited, avoided or even prohibited by fully applying Article 11 of the Charter;
- for the determination of the ecological function of each rural area in the framework of a spatial planning programme, ensuring that any function assigned to a rural area is compatible with its ecological function;
- for the establishment of international co-operation of a scientific, technical and political nature to safeguard and manage the rural environment in Europe.
c. Parties should also take particular measures to:
- develop their networks of biogenetic reserves and to protect threatened biotopes in rural regions as well as intensify co-operation with existing networks;
- introduce or strengthen procedures for carrying out environmental impact studies in connection with infrastructural, industrial or tourist projects liable to cause serious damage to the environmental resources of rural areas;
- establish international co-operation for the purpose of integrated management of water resources, paying particular attention to the possible depletion of watercourses, lakes and ponds as well as to water consumption problems in agriculture, industry and other sectors.
Guideline 13 - Scientific and technical co-operation
Parties should share their scientific experience and research findings, in particular by establishing or reinforcing a system of internationally compatible and comparable information and statistics and by encouraging co-operation between universities and research centres interested in the specific problems of a rural society.
Guideline 14 - Decision-making processes, subsidiarity
a. From a political and administrative point of view, communities in rural areas should be given the greatest possible degree of autonomy. This means, for example, that viable but moderate-scale self-governing units should either be maintained or where necessary created, along with a general respect for the principle of subsidiarity. This is the only way to extend the rural population's room for manoeuvre and increase their willingness to act independently.
b. The financial basis of municipalities and other territorial communities at regional level (cantons, L�nder, d�partements and communes) should be strengthened and built up.
c. It is also important to involve self-help and non-governmental organisations in the development and decision-making processes.
d. Given the enormity of the tasks, partnerships between urban and rural areas should be further developed in future to constantly foster and extend the mutually complementary relations between town and country that ensure survival.
Guideline 15 - Central and Eastern Europe
The countries of Central and Eastern Europe (in transition) deserve special attention and increased support. Special policy strategies and measures are needed to solve specific problems and these should, as far as possible, be devised and determined by the countries themselves. Their efforts towards longer-term European integration should be supported through appropriate measures and treaties. European solidarity, partnership and co-operation are called for. Increased practical help is also needed, however, particularly in extending and building up the infrastructure. In terms of agricultural policy too, special strategies and measures are needed to solve specific problems in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which should be assured adequate access to Western European markets (European preference).
II. Explanatory memorandum
by Mrs ANTTILA and Mr SEILER
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page1. Introduction
2. Aim and purpose
3. Rural areas: Characteristics, assets and functions
4. Threats
5. Guidelines and principles
6. Regional policy (rural development) requirements
7. Agricultural policy guidelines
1. Introduction
The European Campaign for the Countryside, which was organised by the Council of Europe in 1987-88, was the culmination of a number of years' work on rural issues. The Campaign, which consisted of a series of events and conferences on different themes, resulted, among other things, in the issuing of a Swiss Charter for Development of the Countryside, adopted by the National Committee of the European Campaign for the Countryside on 16 December 1987.
On 17 September 1991, the French Charter for the Rural World was signed in Paris.
During the Second European Agricultural Forum (Regensdorf, Switzerland, 26-27 October 1992), Mr Lanner, former Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, proposed the drawing up of a European Rural Charter. This suggestion was followed up by a report to the Assembly by Mrs Anttila and Mr Lanner on necessary agricultural and rural policy reform in Europe. On 3 September 1993, the Assembly voted an Order (No. 490 (1993)) instructing its Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, in co-operation with other interested parties, to "draw up proposals for a European Rural Charter".
The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development had, as a matter of fact, organised a series of events focusing on rural development in the new European context since the fall of the communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. It was therefore well prepared for this task. It decided, however, to seek the advice of two eminent experts on rural development issues for the preparation of a Rural Charter: Professor Joseph Hudault (France) and Professor Hans W. Popp (Switzerland).
On the invitation of the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly, and hosted by the International Fair of Verona, the Committee organised a Third European Agricultural Forum in Verona on 8-9 March 1995. The preliminary draft of the European Charter for Rural Areas was presented at the Forum to all organisations having an interest in the future of rural Europe.
The preparation of this draft had been undertaken in close co-operation with a large number of eminent experts and important organisations, who are all thanked for their valuable contributions. The significant role played by the European Confederation of Agriculture (CEA), which devoted part of its 46th General Assembly in Budapest (19-21 September 1994) to an analysis of the first draft of the Rural Charter, should be particularly emphasised. The Committee was also appreciative of the opportunity to hold an exchange of views with the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Parliament on 22 February 1995. The work of the OECD in this field constituted a particular source of inspiration. The contributions of a large number of non-governmental organisations to the drafting of the European Charter for Rural Areas has stimulated the work in the committee and considerably enhanced the quality of the text. Last but not least, all participants to the Verona Forum made it possible for your Rapporteurs to revise the draft text presented in Verona, taking on all the valuable advice given during the debates. The resulting preliminary model of a European Charter for Rural Areas is appended to the draft recommendation contained in this report.
2. Aim and purpose
The European Charter for Rural Areas aims at defining the principles for sustainable development of agriculture, forestry and rural areas in Europe, which would then serve as a basis for member states to reform their agricultural, forestry and rural policies. In doing so, the Council of Europe is
. aware that the cultural identity, natural resources and ability to survive of rural areas are under particularly serious threat from the crisis in agriculture;
. determined to do its utmost to halt this negative trend and maintain prosperity and quality of life in the countryside.
3. Rural areas: characteristics, assets and functions
1. While agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries are important activities in rural areas, they are also home to non-farming sectors, activities and populations.
2. As a country's economy develops, the number of people employed in agriculture declines in both relative and absolute terms. This structural transformation of agriculture can prompt people to desert rural areas if there are no alternative employment opportunities and a corresponding infrastructure.
3. In developed economies, only a harmonious community of farming and non-farming rural inhabitants living side by side can secure the countryside's capacity to function. Accordingly both of these social groups are dependent on and linked to one another in a variety of ways. This applies equally to "town" and "countryside".
4. Rural areas form a valuable cultural landscape: in its evolution through the centuries the countryside has developed into a varied man-made landscape of meadows, pastures, fields and forests, characterised by a pattern of settlements with farming, forestry, fisheries and hunting roots. Even if there has since been radical change, the typical variety of Europe's rural areas, with small towns, villages and individual farmsteads is still recognisable and has remained a valuable cultural asset. The maintenance of this cultural landscape is an important social concern in all European countries. What is more, it is of direct value to tourism and the hotel and catering trades.
5. Distinctive socially and culturally independent life-styles and structures have developed in rural areas, with both positive and negative sides. This web of specific characteristics, which may appear completely distinct when viewed separately but when taken together guarantee rural areas' function for society and foster social stability. These include:
. communities of moderate size that facilitate individual citizens' direct social participation and responsibility;
. a relative predominance of practical occupations, along with versatile skills, which also makes it easier for people to help themselves and their neighbours.
. a relatively low population density;
. a strong tendency towards traditional family life, a sense of community, self-help and individual responsibility and consequently less welfare burden (old-age provision etc);
. farming, forestry, aquaculture and fishing as a healthy, meaningful and fulfilling way of life and occupying a major part of the land area;
. valuable traditions and customs as a cultural asset worth preserving.
6. Rural areas are also valuable sources of supplies, recreation and equilibrium, for which there is increasing demand in modern society. Examples in this connection are the following services and goods:
. guaranteeing food security (will gain in importance in the longer term in view of the population explosion and the destruction of the environment and resources throughout the world);
. the production of renewable raw materials;
. a well-managed landscape;
. a versatile recreation area for a highly varied range of activities;
. a healthy environment that is as natural as possible;
. open, ecologically functioning "green spaces" in the broadest sense of the term;
. safeguarding the elements: earth, water and air by using them sparingly and sustainably;
. most unified possible natural cycles;
. and so on.
4. Threats
As explained at the beginning, rural areas and their ability to function today face serious internal and external threats in many parts of Europe.
1. One main reason is the crisis in agriculture and fisheries, or a consequence of
. shifting economic parameters and technical progress (productivity explosion) with a latent tendency towards overproduction in agriculture and overfishing in fisheries;
. agricultural, forestry and fisheries policies geared to increasing production and productivity with negative ecological consequences;
. the GATT-liberalisation with dwindling protection against imports and growing pressure to import (particularly animal feed substitutes);
. falling agricultural prices and low incomes.
2. The rural exodus has reached unprecedented proportions over the last forty years. A veritable "agrarian revolution" is under way.
3. Conversely, certain rural areas are experiencing an influx of people fleeing the cities to settle in the countryside. Insufficient integration frequently leads, in such cases, to conflicts of many different kinds.
4. Related sectors have been affected by structural change. An enormous process of concentration has radically altered structures, particularly in processing industries (cheese-making factories, dairies), trade and distribution.
5. Considerations of accessibility have in many cases made things worse for non-agricultural economic activities in rural areas. The trend towards concentration and communication disadvantages are leading to marginalisation.
6. In many regions there is no assurance of equality of living conditions either in terms of income potential or provision of infrastructure. This accentuates the rural depopulation trends, already mentioned, which, what is more, are often selective, that is to say, they primarily concern young and/or better educated people.
7. Over the last few decades, the countryside has lost valuable institutions that reinforced its identity: parishes have been dissolved, schools have been merged, formerly independent small localities have been grouped together to form large communities etc.
8. Experience has shown that neglecting the countryside can also cause a wide range of natural disasters.
9. Sparse population and economic frailty mean that the "countryside" is also politically weak in some areas. It is eclipsed by the dominance of conurbations and has difficulty bringing its interests adequately to bear.
10. Country people's self-awareness and feelings of independence have suffered as a result of all these processes. People become resigned and fall victim to outsiders determining their political and cultural life. Thus, one of the most precious characteristics of the rural way of life is on the verge of disappearing.
11. Threats and problems of a special kind exist in the countries of eastern Europe, as well as in coastal, peripheral and mountain areas.
5. Guidelines and principles
1. The countryside performs valuable functions for society as a whole (see chapter 3).
2. Urban and rural areas are dependent on and linked to each other in a variety of ways. They share a kind of common destiny. The same applies to the farming and non-farming population in the countryside (including, in the broadest sense, forestry and fisheries).
3. Europe's countryside is a historical and precious cultivated landscape, whose maintenance is an important social issue, yet is also of economic value.
4. The countryside can only fulfil its role of supplier and source of recreation and equilibrium, as increasingly demanded by society, if it remains an attractive and self-reliant place to live, with
. a good infrastructure;
. viable farming, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries sectors;
. convenient accessibility for non-agricultural economic activities;
. a healthy environment and a well-tended landscape: an agreeable place to live.
5. The existing threats give rise to the calls for an integrated social and economic policy that follow in the regional (rural development) and farming (in the broadest sense) policy chapters. These two sets of policies must resolutely be brought into line with one another to form a harmonious whole. They must take account of the equality and complementarity of urban and rural areas.
6. Such a programme for the development of the countryside must be based on regional factors and support local initiatives in every way possible;
. people and their problems must henceforth take centre stage in terms of plans and decisions;
. the positive aspects of rural society and in particular of traditional family life must be preserved in order to favour the development of young people and their integration into the community;
. community identity has to be reinforced, as does a sense of self-reliance, co-operation and creativity;
. the cultural and historical characteristics of the countryside must be preserved and allowed to flourish.
. diversification, as well as relations between farming (including forestry and fisheries) and the rest of the population, must be promoted.
7. And one last thing: if we want young, active people to opt for the countryside, then we should refrain from focusing only on the problems of these areas and must put far more emphasis on their positive aspects such as good living, leisure and recreation conditions, the healthier environment, attractive landscapes, clear social structures (which are also an aspect of security), as well as the opportunities for personal participation and influence in community life.
6. Regional policy (rural development) requirements
1. Regional policy here denotes a policy geared towards developing rural areas, so that they can fulfil their functions and remain (become) a pleasant place to live. Agricultural policy has a role to play here, but will be dealt with in a separate chapter, in view of its key significance.
2. Regional policy must be geared to the special needs and features of each region; it will vary from mountain to coastal areas, from western to central and eastern Europe. However, there is much common ground and many guidelines apply universally. The same is also true of agricultural, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries policy.
3. Rural areas must be provided with up-to-date infrastructure and supply facilities that meet their real needs. These are prerequisites for securing the socio-economic function of rural areas. This applies equally to the field of telecommunications or the road network and to public transport or any kind of educational or service installations.
4. Human capital (people with their diverse skills) is the most valuable commodity in rural communities as elsewhere and developing and maintaining it therefore has top priority. Merely obtaining an education frequently signifies the first step towards moving away. This is then also the basis for the demand that in the countryside the schools should again come to the people and not the other way round. Decentralised education and further education opportunities should be promoted and geared towards future job opportunities; school pupils and apprentices in the countryside (boys and girls) should be given the same educational opportunities as those from urban areas.
5. If rural communities are to stay alive, rural people need satisfactory levels of income. This requires a variety of attractive employment opportunities, and not just in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. These must, however, be tailored to the specific features of regions and localities. They include:
. giving priority to those activities and initiatives that are geared towards endogenous development and above all that are managed and financed by the rural community itself;
. fostering the diversification and adaptation of production structures, especially in regions dominated by a particular economic branch or sector where the risk of recession is high;
. fostering multiple activity and the harmonious integration of different countryside activities;
. fostering the production of goods and services when it enhances the rural communities' special non-manual and manual skills and making full use of any under-used resources (timber, water, stone, land or the production of renewable sources of energy);
. creating high added value of small and medium-sized businesses by means of technology transfers, tax relief, advice, financial aid, etc.
6. Rural areas must become more attractive for economic activities that are suitable from a socio-economic and ecological point of view. Telecommunications, the modern substitute for mobility, should be made full use of as a factor to increase attractiveness, not only economically, but also in terms of society as a whole.
7. The society of leisure offers rural areas opportunities and employment potential, particularly for the tourist industry, although the associated problems should not be underestimated. The invasion of urban leisure opportunities can endanger the cultural identity of rural society. Moreover, the harsh manifestations of the leisure and tourism industry can threaten the ecological basis of many rural areas. Countermeasures are required in both areas under threat: on the one hand, by consciously cultivating rural culture on the basis of intact community life, and on the other, by determinedly promoting ecologically harmless forms of leisure and tourism, which correspond to the natural resources' capacity for resistance. Family allotments and the like should also be encouraged.
8. Nature and landscapes need care and attention. It is therefore important:
. to seek to achieve the rational and sustainable management of natural resources and to maintain living environments and biodiversity;
. to conserve all landscapes of outstanding interest and their "buffer zones";
. to conserve the beauty and special features of the countryside by restoring villages and rustic buildings and if possible repairing the damage to nature and the landscape;
. to preserve and manage forests - starting with protected forest;
. to ensure that urban areas do not allow their waste problems to spill over into the countryside and that rural and urban communities alike take responsibility for their own waste and noxious substances.
9. Rural areas could take on the role of pioneers in order to set an example, in such areas as small-scale energy grid systems using renewable sources of energy (e.g. hydro-electric power, biomass, wind and wave energy). Land no longer needed for growing foodstuffs could be used for cultivating renewable raw materials. This would also contribute to an ecologically sound use of endogenous potential.
10. Similar pooled systems could be attempted for recycling the sorts of waste that accumulate in rural areas. The model for this is the gradual transition from the linear to the cyclical economy, for which the preconditions are considerably more favourable in rural areas than in densely populated urban areas. Such efforts should be supported by ecological tax reforms.
11. From a political and administrative point of view, communities in rural areas should be given the greatest possible degree of autonomy. This means, for example, that viable but moderate-scale self-governing units should either be maintained or where necessary created, along with a general respect for the principle of subsidiarity. This
is the only way to extend the rural population's room for manoeuvre and increase their willingness to act independently.
12. The financial basis of municipalities and other territorial communities at regional level (cantons, L�nder, D�partements) must be strengthened and built up. The provisions in force are in many cases now out of date and do no justice whatsoever to the needs of the day.
13. It is also important to involve self-help and non-governmental organisations in the development and decision-making processes.
14. Given the enormity of the tasks, partnerships between urban and rural areas should be further developed in future to constantly foster and extend the mutually complementary relations between town and country that ensure survival.
15. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe (in transition) deserve special attention and increased support. Special policy strategies and measures are needed to solve specific problems and these should, as far as possible, be devised and determined by the countries themselves. Their efforts towards longer-term European integration should be supported through appropriate measures and treaties. European solidarity, partnership and co-operation are called for. Increased practical help is also needed, however, particularly in extending and building up the infrastructure.
7. Agricultural policy guidelines
1. The vital functions of rural areas can only be performed by a viable agricultural and forestry sector that is structured along rural lines and close to nature. Agriculture, forestry and fishing are important activities in rural areas and accordingly a functioning countryside is inconceivable without one or more of these activities.
2. Yet it is above all agriculture that is in a state of crisis (see Chapter 4). Agricultural policy therefore takes on a central role. It would be wrong to think that a functioning countryside with well-tended landscapes could be maintained by regional policy and non-agricultural measures alone. A good agricultural policy is the best kind of regional policy.
3. The role of agriculture in society has fundamentally changed in European countries (particularly western Europe) since the Second World War. Changing values and circumstances (higher incomes, surpluses, agrarian revolution, European integration, international trade, environmental damage and so on and so forth) have influenced the population's attitude to agriculture. Concern for natural resources and the desire for a well-managed landscape have gained in importance compared with food production and food security.
The original and traditional function of agriculture as a food producer and supplier has gone down in people's esteem, particularly because of continuing overproduction, falling agricultural prices and the international opening and liberalisation of agricultural markets.
4. At the same time . fortunately . other "non-importable" functions of agriculture have risen in people's esteem. These are the assets and functions of multifunctional agriculture as set out in Chapter 3, which can be summarised as follows:
. preserving and tending the landscape, for example as a recreation area and the basic capital for tourism;
. preserving rural "rustic" values, lifestyles, cultural assets and similar social functions for the community;
. keeping the elements vital to our survival healthy (earth, water ...) and seeing to it that they are used sustainably by means of an ecologically respectful agriculture with corresponding forms of production and animal husbandry suitable for the particular species (concern for the long-term balance of our eco-system);
. helping to ensure that rural areas are capable of functioning and that there is healthy, economic, social and cultural life in the countryside.
5. These functions, which serve the public economic interest - also known as "public utilities" - are to a certain extent linked to the production of agricultural produce. Until now they were more or less compensated for by the prices of products. However, this is no longer the case in view of the liberalisation of agricultural markets and falling agricultural prices. In general, farmers' relative incomes are falling, many are leaving the countryside, particularly those in less viable areas, and the social economic functions demanded by society are no longer being adequately fulfilled.
6. This fatal process needs to be halted through an agricultural policy that is geared to this multifunctional type of agriculture, with extended tasks in the service of society. Basically the following two solutions, which may even be cumulative depending on the circumstances, must be entertained:
1. Appropriate import protection measures within the framework of rules for fair international trade and/or
2. direct compensation for social economic functions through a system of general direct payments, supplemented by bonuses for special ecological and other services (eg mountain farming bonuses).
Complementary supporting measures are indispensable: supply management (as a corollary to import controls) and other measures (see in particular paragraph 10 below).
7. Agriculture and forestry therefore have spatial and landscape preservation (structuring) functions which go far beyond producing foodstuffs and raw materials. If these currently priceless functions, which can only be fulfilled on the spot, and therefore cannot be imported . constituting the core of the ecological balancing function of rural areas . are going to be fulfilled in future, or even become a priority, then they must be made economically viable for the agricultural population by direct payments. If this does not happen, a European agricultural crisis, right up to the wholesale collapse of farming and our country landscapes along with it, would be inescapable.
8. In the wake of the process of industrialisation, rural areas have lost many of the functions they also used to fulfil for the cities to a large degree, including the supply of renewable raw materials and sources of energy. There is almost no alternative to rural areas again assuming these tasks using modern, appropriate technology in view of the global ecological crisis, though this is in reality not least dependent on regulatory (fiscal!) factors.
9. The social and ecological consequences of intensive production methods in agriculture are less obvious, but in the long run all the more disquieting. They are carried out as part of an insidious process of natural destruction: soil erosion, biological impoverishment, pollution, etc. Appropriate ecologically-balanced production methods should be promoted at national level as well as internationally. Adequate ecological accountability and binding minimum environmental standards are therefore the order of the day. This poses a major new challenge for the GATT and its successor WTO (World Trade Organisation).
10. The following measures in particular are part and parcel of a modern pro-active agricultural policy that is tailored to specific circumstances:
. investment aid for the improvement of agricultural infrastructure;
. start-up assistance and targeted incentive strategies;
. production policy and supply management geared to demand and local conditions;
_ promotion of a form of animal husbandry that is suitable for the particular species, linked to the land and not harmful to the environment;
. rationalisation of production, marketing and sales;
. promotion of product quality and marketing of specialities;
. public health monitoring of foodstuffs;
. promotion of ecologically sound methods of production and the biodiversity, eg via direct payments;
. incentives for extensive farming and alternative land use;
. support for self-reliance and co-operation within agriculture;
. measures for disadvantaged regions;
. encouragement of secondary and part-time occupations;
. social protection, and so on.
11. Production conditions and the economic context of agriculture, as well as society's wishes and requirements of agriculture, vary enormously throughout the world and even
within Europe. Accordingly, each region has the right (duty) to find adequate and independent solutions, particularly in three core areas:
. food security;
. income levels and benefits for farming families (including, in the broadest sense, forestry, fisheries and hunting);
. environmental standards;
and to take appropriate measures.
12. From this point of view, then, the concept of free trade in its purest form is not suited to agriculture. Reasonable import protection measures are indispensable for many countries. International openness, co-operation and solidarity, as well as binding rules for fair agricultural trade, are however equally as important . and WTO should concentrate on and limit itself to this.
13. The growing influence in recent years of international bodies, particularly on GATT and its successor WTO, on the domestic formulation of agricultural policy should be carefully analyzed and monitored. Agricultural policy must in principle remain a national or EU responsibility, though the indispensable corollary is that each country should abide by agreed rules and exercise production and export discipline.
14. Within the agricultural policy advocated here, as much decision-making power and responsibility as possible must be devolved to lower tiers of government in accordance with the subsidiarity principle, particularly in the spheres of structural and social policy as well as with regard to direct income payments.
15. In terms of agricultural policy too, special strategies and measures are needed to solve specific problems in the countries of eastern Europe (see � 15, 6. Regional policy).
16. The importance of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture as a sector of the economy, in terms of both rural areas and society as a whole, cannot be adequately gauged from their current share of economic net product or from the number of people they employ. Instead, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, aquaculture and hunting must be viewed in terms of their food security, raw material and ecological balance functions, and their socio-political significance and efficiency per unit of area should, in particular, be acknowledged.
Reporting committee: Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: none.
Reference to committee: Order No. 490 (1993)
Draft recommendation adopted unanimously by the committee on 27 November 1995.
Members of the committee: MM. Scheer (Chairman), van der Linden, Szak�l (Vice-Chairmen), Mrs Andnor, Mrs Anttila, MM. Bernardini, Bianchi (Alternate: Arata), Caballero, Cerny (Alternate: Hurta), Couveinhes, Crowley, (Alternate: Gregory), Figel, Fronzuti, Ghesqui�re, Ghimpu, Haraldsson, Hoejland, Holte, Hornung, Sir Ralph Howell, MM. Iuliano, Jeambrun, Kairys, Kiratlioglu, Kotsonis, Lacour, Lanner, Lord Mackie of Benshie, Mrs Melandri, MM. Metelko, Michels, Mrs Moser, MM. Rippinger (Alternate: Kollwelter), Rodrigues, Seiler, Sinka, Smolarek (Alternate: Szymanski), Telgmaa, J. Thompson.
N.B. The names of those members present at the meeting are printed in italics.
Secretary to the committee: Mr Lervik
[1] by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development