Select Committee on European Communities Eighteenth Report


APPENDIX 3

Glossary

ACRONYMS
ACRE Action with Communities in Rural England
CAP Common Agricultural Policy
CLA Country Landowners' Association
CPRE Council for the Protection of Rural England
DETR Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions
DG VI European Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development
DG XVI European Commission Directorate-General for Regional Policy and Cohesion
ELO European Landowners' Organisation
ERDF European Regional Development Fund (one of the Structural Funds)
ESA Environmentally Sensitive Area
ESF European Social Fund (one of the Structural Funds)
FEOGA European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund
FIFG Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (one of the Structural Funds)
FWAG Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, succeeded in 1993 by the World Trade Organisation
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GNP Gross National Product
HLCA Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowance
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network-a superior quality telephone line which permits the rapid transfer of computer data
LEADER A decentralised rural development programme run by DG VI
MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
NFU National Farmers' Union of England and Wales
PPG 7 DETR Planning Policy Guidance Note 7 "The Countryside-Environmental Quality and Economic and Social Development"
RDC Rural Development Commission
RICS Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest
WTO World Trade Organisation, successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

TECHNICAL TERMS

Environmental goods-this concept turns care for the environment into a product or service which can be purchased. There is no set definition, but it might, for example, include the preservation or construction of hedges, the restricted use of fertilisers or practice to maintain a bird population.

Guarantee section-the FEOGA Guarantee section, over 95% of the total, funds the CAP's price support.

Guidance section-the FEOGA Guidance section is one of the Structural Funds and provides assistance to reform farm structures and to develop rural areas.

Guideline (Agricultural)-in order to curb expenditure, the Guideline limits the CAP's annual rate of increase to 74 per cent of the annual growth of GNP. The guideline for the growth of the Community's overall budget is 1.27 per cent of GNP.

Horizontal-a scheme available across the Community or a Member State, i.e. not limited to specific localities by the Community or national government.

Menu-most commonly used in relation to the agri-environment regulation (2078/92[43]), whereby a Member State may (according to Community guidelines and subject to Community approval) draw up a menu of options from which the farmer can then select for which to apply. The approach is in contrast to that where there are several separate schemes, each with different intentions, application and funding processes.

Structural Funds-the principal means by which the Community seeks to reduce disparities within the Union[44]. The four funds are:

    -    European Regional Development Fund

    -    European Social Fund

    -    Guidance Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund

    -    Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance

The current "Objectives" for expenditure (referred to by their number) and relative shares of expenditure are:

  targeted measures:

  1.   poorest regions in the Community whose development is lagging behind (68.1 per cent)

  2.   regions seriously affected by industrial decline (10.8 per cent)

  5(a).  structural reform of agriculture (4.3 per cent)

  6.   development of sparsely populated regions (0.5 per cent)

  horizontal measures:

  3.    long-term and youth unemployment

  4.    adaptation of workers to technological change (3 and 4 together: 11.2 per cent)

  5(b).  diversification of vulnerable rural areas (4.5 per cent)

Targeted-a scheme which operates in a spatially defined region.

Tiered-a concept for rural environmental policy. The lowest tier may, for example, be available across the Community and not set very rigorous standards. Higher tiers would set higher standards and may be concentrated on especially valued areas or features.

Transition-the period from the implementation of the Agenda 2000 CAP reforms to the full exposure of European agriculture to international competition, during which time the industry will undergo much change.



43   "On agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside" OJ L215 (30 July 1992) p 85. Back

44   A full analysis is made in European Communities Committee, 11th Report (1996-97): Reducing Disparities within the European Union: the Effectiveness of the Structural and Cohesion Funds (HL 64). Back


 
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