Supplementary Memorandum by England's
Regional Development Agencies (PURPLE)
THE VITAL
ROLE OF
PERI URBAN
REGIONS
The Peri Urban Regions Platform, PURPLE, calls
upon the European Union institutions and the Member States to
fully recognise the importance of peri urban regions. The urban
pressure felt by all peri urban regions in the European Union
constitutes sufficient reason on its own to justify a special
position in policy, in any policy at all levels. However, to consider
peri urban regions merely as areas under urban pressure would
not do justice to the vital role peri urban areas play as interfaces
between the urban and the rural world; they have a crucial position
in bringing these worlds together. In this sense peri urban regions
can usually be characterised by their duality: on the one hand
a high dynamic as a result from the pressure from the nearby cities
while on the other hand representing valuable qualities of the
countryside with their open spaces, attractive landscapes, bio
diversity and rural communities. Agriculture also still plays
a major part, on the one hand representing highly modern and efficient
sectors producing for world markets, while other sectors fulfil
a crucial role in maintaining the landscape and offering products
and services for the nearby city population.
This duality also implies that peri urban regions
more often than not are facing a continuous struggle to find a
balance between the needs and wishes of the cities and preserving
and reinforcing the multi-functional qualities of the countryside,
its agriculture and the socio-economic vitality of its rural communities.
The intermediate position therefore offers both challenges and
opportunities.
A NEW VISION
IS NEEDED
THAT BETTER
INCLUDES THE
ROLE OF
PERI URBAN
REGIONS
PURPLE feels that both these challenges and
opportunities are insufficiently met in current policy. This is
also true for the Common Agricultural Policy, considering that
peri urban regions play a vital role in planning and managing
the transition towards multi-functional land use and a sustainable
and competitive agriculture.
In this light, PURPLE welcomes the European
Union's initiative to organise a mid-term review of the latest
reform of the CAP. This offers an opportunity to evaluate if and
to what extent the CAP is contributing to strengthen agriculture
and rural communities in peri urban areas. There is, however,
reason for some caution, since the last reform is still in the
process of implementation, implying that the effects of this reform
will not be visible throughout.
Nonetheless, PURPLE feels, based on an internal
assessment and consultation that there is a need for clearer vision
on the future of European agriculture and countryside. Rather
than looking back, PURPLE urges the Commission to develop a coherent
long term vision for the future, now lacking, in which there will
be a specific attention for peri urban regions, their challenges
and their opportunities. Both the Mid Term Review and new proposals
to reform the CAP post 2012 should be viewed in the light of this
vision.
BASIC PRINCIPLES
FOR A
NEW VISION
AND A
NEW POLICY
Such a vision should be founded on a number
of principles that together constitute the basis of a future CAP:
1. A Common Agricultural Policy will remain
necessary and must be maintained after 2013.
2. The challenges European agriculture and European
countryside are facing and the products and services, both private
and public, they have to provide for are manifold and certainly
not of lesser importance than those of the last decades. The budget
for the CAP, Pillar I and II, should therefore be based on these
challenges.
3. The future CAP should have more coherence
with the Goteberg and Lisbon Agenda.
4. The CAP should set common rules for all of
the EU, but should also leave enough room for specific national
and regional ambitions.
5. The political and societal legitimacy of
the CAP will largely depend on the way and extent in which CAP
support will contribute to the realisation of goals concerning:
— the transition towards an economical,
environmental and socially sustainable agriculture and towards
competitive holdings;
— supporting the development of all
types of agriculture respectful of the environment;
— providing the highest standards in
food quality;
— respecting animal welfare;
— combating climate change and increasing
the production of renewable energy;
— the improvement of public health,
both through food and on farm health care.;
— the preservation of vulnerable agro-ecosystems
and valuable landscapes by farmers and other land owners, working
together with rural entrepreneurs and institutions;
— the protection of these agro-ecosystems,
landscapes and bio diversity against urban sprawl and infrastructures;
— the support of the socio-economic
vitality of rural areas;
— improving innovation in and development
of new products and services that respond to the needs of the
urban population such as health care and leisure; and
— the improvement of water management
and encouraging a more efficient water use; the preservation of
the quality of water resources through preventative measures.
6. These goals and objectives should be founded
on the notion of the multifunctional role of agriculture, the
multifunctional role of rural areas and specifically on the role
of peri urban regions in relation to the nearby urban environment.
7. Support should not only be based on historic
entitlements but also on output criteria related to the societal
legitimacy and the objectives as mentioned under point 5.
CURRENT ISSUES
TO BE
ADDRESSED BY
THE EUROPEAN
COMMISSION ON
SHORT TERM
Based on these principles PURPLE urges the European
Commission to urgently address the following issues:
Peri urban areas indispensable for competitive
urban development
For urban regions to become and/or stay competitive
and innovative, awareness must be raised that an attractive peri
urban environment is an indispensable amenity in urban development
strategies to attract business and skilled work force. From the
rural perspective this means that the CAP should offer more room
to include the urban environment in rural development plans. Specifically
the Leader approach should offer more opportunities to come to
integrated urban-rural development strategies. This means that
within the framework of Rural Development Plans and Local Action
Plans investments in the urban environment are also eligible for
support.
More emphasis on Pillar II
In most cases, contrary to original objectives,
budget for Rural Developments has been reduced. Specifically for
peri urban regions this means that they have less means to encourage
rural development, to protect its qualities from urban pressure
and to preserve its diversity in landscapes and bio diversity
and to promote its culture and culinary diversity. It also implies
that there is less budget to promote and support the agricultural
sector to become more competitive. PURPLE therefore strongly urges
the Commission to convince to enlarge the budgets for Pillar II,
also to promote innovation and increase competitiveness of the
agricultural sector.
More protection of diversity
One of the main characteristics of rural Europe
is its rich diversity, both naturally and culturally. This same
is true for peri urban regions. United as they are in their intermediate
position between the urban and rural areas, they also represent
a large variety in landscapes, culture and localised food production
system. This still existing diversity should be valued more strongly
and utilised as assets in developing integrated rural development
strategies.
Peri urban regions can contribute to combating
climate change
Large scale production of bio energy crops,
generally does not offer an economically valid option for most
peri urban regions, as a result of the higher land prices. Peri
urban regions, however, can contribute to the goals to reduce
CO2 emissions in a numerous of other ways, by maintaining open
spaces and agricultural use, by reforestation programmes, processing
of bio mass and promotion of the localisation of quality production
and consumption to reduce food miles.
More attention on installation of young farmers
The farming community is ageing rapidly and
the number of young farmers is decreasing. Although this phenomenon
can be witnessed all over Europe, this is especially critical
in peri-urban areas where instalment cost are higher because of
high land prices and where there is a larger offer in alternative
employment. Young farmers are key for the future of agriculture
and are key to make the transition towards a sustainable, multifunctional
and competitive agriculture. Policy should not only be aimed at
offering young farmers assistance in taking over or starting a
farming business, but also at presenting farming and farm work
as an attractive career opportunity. Increased support should
be based however on business plans, showing the farmer's willingness
and capacities to become competitive and sustainable.
More policy room for payment of green and blue
agricultural services based on market prices
There is a greater need for protection and maintenance
of valuable landscapes, eco systems and bio diversity, especially
in peri urban areas where these qualities are under constant threat
from urban pressure. There is at the same time a greater potential
to organise protection and maintenance of these public goods in
the form of so called green (landscape, eco systems, bio diversity)
and blue (management of water quantity and quality) services offered
by farmers and other land owners. Payment, both public and private,
for these services should no longer be based on compensating land
owners for production losses, but on real market prices.
More attention to health
Health problems, problems of overweight and
obesities resulting from bad diets and poor nutrition are rapidly
increasing, especially among the young. If these problems are
not addressed urgently and sufficiently, they will have severe
implications for public health and for public health care budgets.
Since these problems are most felt in cities, peri urban regions
offer excellent opportunities to help address these problems by
offering local, fresh and healthy food to urban consumers. This
means that the Commission should create more room for public bodies,
such as schools and hospitals to cater their food locally. Healthy
diets and lifestyles can also be encouraged through awareness
programmes in which the urban population, especially school children
can be introduced to food production. By making peri urban regions
more accessible to the urban population for recreational purposes,
would offer possibilities to encourage people to become more active.
More emphasis on the Leader approach
Over the last 1.5 decade the Leader approach
has proven its value in rural development by encouraging private
and public cooperation and cross-sectorial cooperation. The Leader
approach also has shown to be a excellent tool in facilitating
innovation. Originally introduced as an instrument for rural development
in less favoured areas, under the Leader+programme it has also
shown to have an added value in most peri urban regions. Nonetheless
we feel that the Leader approach is embraced only half heartedly
by Member States, spurred by the realisation that in most cases
budgets for Rural Development have declined rather than increased.
Raising the budget for Pillar II would offer more room to implement
the Leader approach on a wider scale for those Member States and
regions will to do so.
8 November 2007
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