Nature and Prosperity

Agriculture and Rural Development Policy

Billions of Euro will be available in coming years in a number of the Danube-Carpathian countries, especially from EU and related national support programmes.

The EU support – up to €8 billion for Romania and Bulgaria for the seven-year period – can provide much needed funds for addressing past environmental problems, supporting nature conservation and promoting sustainable development in the region.

But it can just as easily – in fact, more easily – finance activities with a long-term negative impact on the environment, from factory-farming to large-scale infrastructure projects.

Our aim has been to tip the balance between unsustainable to sustainable uses of the funds.

In this work, we have worked closely with relevant authorities, EU officials, NGO partners and other stakeholders in preparation and programming for the agricultural and regional development funds in Romania, Bulgaria, and, through our partner organisation Daphne, in Slovakia.

Programming for use of funds
Our work first focused on use of EU pre-accession funds, especially on support for agri-environment, rare breeds, less favoured areas and organic food production.

More recently, our work has revolved around programming for use of EU funds in the 2007-13 financial period, particularly through the new European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and to a lesser extent the Structural Funds. Also relevant in this respect are funds provided through the European Free Trade Agreement by Norway and possibly Switzerland.

Capacity building
We have also focused on building capacity of other stakeholders, including other NGOs as well as protected area and other authorities to actively participate in and eventually draw on these funding sources.