COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. Brussels, 4 October /04 ENV 519. NOTE from : Presidency

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1 COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 4 October /04 ENV 519 NOTE from : Presidency to : Council No. prev. doc. : 12998/04 ENV 518 No. Cion prop. : 11590/04 ENV COM(2004) 431 final Subject : Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the financing of Natura 2000 Presidency discussion paper The Annexes to this note contain a revised draft discussion paper that the Presidency has prepared to structure the public debate within the Council (Environment) on 14 October Annex A sets out questions that the Presidency suggests in the light of Member States' reactions to the Commission communication. Annex B contains background information. The Presidency requests that, in accordance with Article 20(1)(e) of the Council's rules of procedure, delegations that have identical or similar positions choose one of them to express their shared position within the Council /04 SJC/pc 1 DG I EN

2 ANNEX A MAIN QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION WITHIN THE COUNCIL (ENVIRONMENT) ON 14 OCTOBER Do you agree that the Commission's "integration option" can enhance the availability of Community co-financing for Natura 2000 projects? 2. Do you have any concerns about potential gaps in funding? Ministers may wish to comment, in particular, on: the type of funding: cohesion/structural funds, rural development fund, the future "LIFE+" regime or other; beneficiaries (public authorities, farmers, NGOs, fishermen and public and private landowners); kinds of areas (land, marine/water, within the Natura 2000 network or in surrounding areas impacting Natura 2000, the offshore zone); projects, investments, measures, activities, communication, environmental measurements (hydrologic measures, nitrification/eutrophication), monitoring; long term/short term (investments, management costs). 3. How can funding for Natura 2000 be ensured, taking account of the current and future co-financing possibilities and priorities of the different financial instruments and the provisions of Article 8 of the Habitats Directive? Ministers may wish to comment, in particular, on: subsidiarity/member States' responsibilities versus the establishment and management of a pan-european ecological network; guarantees that Member States can use other funding to co-finance Natura 2000 (financial guarantees or references in the national rural development programmes and national structural strategies to co-funding for all Natura 2000 cost categories) /04 SJC/pc 2 ANNEX A DG I EN

3 ANNEX B BACKGROUND ON THE COMMISSION COMMUNICATION: "FINANCING NATURA 2000" I. PURPOSE OF THIS DISCUSSION PAPER The Presidency's aim in preparing this paper is to structure discussions on the Commission communication "Financing Natura 2000". It prepared the paper in the light of the comments that Member States made within the Working Party on the Environment on 23 July and 9 and 23 September 2004 and in their written contributions. In particular, these comments have inspired the questions set out in Annex A. These questions will provide the basis for the discussion within the Council (Environment) on 14 October 2004, as a contribution to the wider and continuing discussions on the post-2006 financial perspectives. II. CURRENT STATE OF PLAY Directive 92/43/CEE on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and Wild Flora and Fauna (the "Habitats Directive"), in particular its Article 8, provides for Community co-financing for the Natura 2000 network. Article 6(2)(a) of the 6 th Community Environmental Action Programme states that establishing the Natura 2000 network, and implementing the necessary technical and financial instruments and measures required for its full implementation, is a priority action in order to achieve the Gothenburg target of halting biodiversity loss by /04 SJC/pc 3

4 The Commission's communication "Financing Natura 2000" is a follow-up to the report of the "Article 8 expert group" (a group that the Commission set up to consider the implementation of Article 8 of the Habitats Directive). This Expert Group made an estimation of the financial costs associated with a variety of activities concerning the future management of the Natura 2000 network and made recommendations on the necessary Community funds for the co-financing of these costs. Based on replies to two questionnaires sent to Member States, the Commission estimates the total annual costs for the Natura 2000 network in all 25 Member States at 6.1 billion per year. The Commission divides the measures eligible to be financed into: a) establishment of Natura 2000, b) management planning and administration, c) ongoing management actions, and d) investment costs. It sets out three options for the funding of these measures: 1) building on existing funding mechanisms and making them more explicitly available for co-financing Natura 2000; 2) developing an existing funding mechanism to fit a new purpose (e.g. LIFE Nature); 3) creating a new funding instrument. The Commission chose the first option, the "integration" option. In its view, this option would ensure that the management of Natura 2000 sites is part of the wider land management policies of the EU, allow Member States to set priorities and develop policies reflecting their national specificities and avoid overlap between different Community financial instruments /04 SJC/pc 4

5 Together with the communication "Financing Natura 2000", the Commission adopted several relevant proposals in July 2004, namely: - a package of five new Regulations comprising a general regulation laying down common rules for the Structural Funds and specific Regulations for the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund, including a successor for INTERREG (doc /04); and - a proposed Regulation on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (doc /04). These proposals, the communication "Financing Natura 2000" and a proposed Regulation on the European Fisheries Fund are part of a package of Commission proposals relating to the financial perspectives for 2007 to In addition, the Commission should shortly adopt a proposal for a "LIFE +" regime. III. LINKS WITH STRUCTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDS Article 5(2) of the proposed Regulation on the European Regional Development Fund provides, under the regional competitiveness and employment objective, for the ERDF to focus its assistance, in the context of regional sustainable development strategies, on a number of priorities, including: "environment and risk prevention and, specifically, stimulating investment for the rehabilitation of contaminated sites and land, and promoting the development of infrastructure linked to biodiversity and Natura 2000 contributing to sustainable economic development and diversification of rural areas". The Commission s proposal for a new Rural Development Regulation has three "axes" or main objectives of rural development: axis 1 covers measures to improve the competitiveness of the agricultural and forestry sectors; 12999/04 SJC/pc 5

6 axis 2 covers land management, including Natura 2000 payments. Subsection 1 deals with the sustainable use of agriculture land and provides that: "support shall be granted annually and per hectare of Utilised Agricultural Area to farmers in order to compensate for costs incurred and income foregone resulting from disadvantages in the areas concerned related to the implementation of Directives 79/409/ EEC and 92/43/EEC" (Birds and Habitats Directives). Subsection 2 covers the sustainable use of forestry land and provides that: "support shall be granted annually and per hectare of forest to private forest owners or associations thereof in order to compensate for costs incurred resulting from the restrictions on the use of forests and other wooded land related to the implementation of Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC in the area concerned"; axis 3 - covers diversification of the rural economy and the quality of life in rural areas. Subsection 1 provides that: "support covers the drawing-up of protection and management plans relating to Natura 2000 sites and other places of high natural value". IV. DELEGATIONS' VIEWS Discussions within the Working Party on the Environment suggest that: 1. it would be broadly acceptable to integrate Natura 2000 into existing Community financial instruments, adding more explicit references to funding for Natura 2000; 2. some Member States have concerns about the ability of environmental authorities to obtain funds from financial instruments that other national authorities manage; and it is therefore necessary to clarify the availability of Community co-financing for the Natura 2000 network; 3. there is an urgent need for additional information from the Commission regarding the eligibility of Natura 2000 projects for Community co-financing, both under current and future arrangements (with regard to different types of beneficiaries, activities and areas, including water bodies); 4. the new "LIFE +" regime should contribute to the implementation of the overall package of measures relating to the Natura 2000 network /04 SJC/pc 6