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Legislation in force

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Legislation in force

Legislation in force

The present administration framework At the present time diverse administrative measures are in force within the European Commission, established in the CAP and in rural development, and several initiatives in Environment. Agriculture Cross compliance These can be considered as being the minimum technical requisites demandable for receiving compensatory payments or aids per surface of the CAP. They are based on EC Regulation 1259/1999 and are being developed in most EU countries. For instance, in the case of Spain, this conditionality was published in Royal Decree 2352/2004, in which, for the first time, the definition of conservation agriculture was reflected in Article 2. Farmers who receive direct payments are, among other measures, obliged to carry out the following agrarian and environmental practices:  In grassy crops, it is not permitted to till in the direction of the line with the highest slope when the latter exceeds 10%.  In general, it is not permitted to till the vineyard, the olive or dry fruits on slopes of over 15%, except for special cultivation modes, such as terraces, strip cultivation, conservation agriculture or total coverage of soil.  In land plots sown with grassy crops it is not permitted to till between the harvest date and 1st September, except for certain exceptions.  In olive, it is necessary to maintain a vegetation cover in the paths transversal to the slope line if there is bare soil in the spaces around the tree trunks.  Cropping, clearing and fallow lands will be kept up with traditional cultivation practices, minimum tillage or the maintenance of an adequate vegetation cover (conservation agriculture), with the use of low-risk herbicides with no residual effects being permitted  Stubble burning is still prohibited, unless it is permitted by competent authorities for phytosanitary reasons. In addition to the above, farmers who receive direct payments are obliged to fulfill the legal and management requisites stemming from state and Community regulations related to the conservation of wild birds, water protection, soil protection, nitrates, conservation of natural habitats, public and animal health, animal identification, veterinary and phytosanitary questions, traceability, disease eradication and other regulations appearing in the Appendix of the abovementioned Royal Decree. The non observance of this legislation may be grounds for penalties in the direct payments. Good agricultural practices These are the minimum technical requisites for receiving environmental aids as per the EC Regulation 1257/99 of the EU. They were brought into force in most EU countries in 2001, and in Spain they are established in the Royal Decree 4/2001, and refer to tillage, crop alternatives and use of fertilizers, among other aspects. In many cases, they are defined ambiguously and some of them are difficult to follow up administratively speaking. Agroenvironmental measures These are complementary subsidies according to the different specific techniques which may be established. They are based on the enforcement of regulations 1257/99 and 1260/99 of the EU. These took effect in most EU countries in 2001 and in the Spanish case they are included in the Royal Decree 4/2001 They are grouped in new action lines. The total number of specific measures is very high and has a highly diverse technical-administrative follow-up. Some are positive, others a lot less so and they have not been prioritized according to their environment benefit potential. Environment The thematic strategy for soil protection in Europe In the setting of the Sixth European environment action programme, in 2002 a thematic strategy was initiated for the protection of soils. This was divided up into specific work groups set up in different areas, namely: erosion, organic matter and biodiversity, pollution and use of soil, and monitoring and research. It was the first time that the European Commission had dealt specifically with the subject of soil protection so that the document had a broad, descriptive approach. The main aims of the document are: • to describe the multiple functions of soils • to specify the characteristics of the soil to be taken into account for the drafting of policies • to specify the main threats to the soil • to present a general view of pertinent Community policies. • to evaluate the present situation with regard to information and surveillance of soils and to determine the deficiencies to be remedied as a basis for a soil protection policy. to establish policy bases and indicate the steps to follow for the presentation of a thematic strategy on the subject of soil protection at the end of 2005. Among the degradation processes affecting European soils, special emphasis is placed on erosion, and although it has been affirmed that historically the Mediterranean area is the one most affected by it, there are increasing signs that the phenomenon has reached other parts of Europe, so that, with different degrees of seriousness, it can be considered as being a problem on a European Union scale. Another key concern, in the Commission’s opinion, is the loss of organic matter. The diminution of organic matter is especially worrying in Mediterranean areas. The European Soil Office has reported that the soil in almost 75% of the total sampled in southern Europe has a poor (3.4%) or very poor (1.7%) content in organic matter. In November 2005, a document will be presented by the Commission, in which the path to be taken in the future will be established and conservation agriculture will be recognized as being sustainable and recommendable. Climate change. Protocol of Kyoto According to the UNFCC, the mean temperature of the earth’s surface has risen by over 0.6ºC since the end of the 19th century. The forecasts predict that it will increase again at between 1.4ºC and 5.8ºC for the year 2100, representing a very rapid change, the greatest in one century in the past 10,000 years. Among the reasons for this increase in temperature, apart from the obvious one of industrialization, are some agricultural exploitation methods greatly extended in the EU based on the intensive tillage of soils, which have increased the volume of “greenhouse effect gases” in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide. These gases are produced naturally and are basic to life on Earth; they stop part of the solar heat from going back into space. But when the volume of these gases is considerable and grows unremittingly, they cause artificially high temperatures and modify the climate. The 1990`s seem to have been the warmest years in the past thousand years. Over a decade ago, most countries suscribed to an international treaty – the United Nations Convention Framework on the Climate Change – to begin to consider what could be done to reduce the heating of the atmosphere and to adopt measures to counteract those rises in temperature which are inevitable. In 1997 governments agreed to incorporate an addendum to the treaty, known by the name of Protocol of Kyoto, which contains more energetic (and legally binding) measures. The individual objectives for the Parts included in Appendix I are enumerated in Appendix B of the Protocol of Kyoto. Among all these, a total cutback of greenhouse effect gas emissions summed to at least 5% with respect to 1990 levels in the period of the commitment of 2008-2012. Almost 13 years after the Convention, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the Protocol came into force in February, 2005. The Member States of the Union, as a whole, will have to reduce their greenhouse effect gas emissions by 8% between 2008 and 2012. In the EU, 10% of the greenhouse effect gas emissions correspond to agriculture. The Member States can and should thus take steps to reduce the emissions coming from this sector. Furthermore, they can take advantage of the acquisition of emission credits by means of flexible instruments, based on projects, from the Protocol of Kyoto, such as a mechanism for a clean development and the joint action mechanism, as well as through the international régime of emission rights exchange in accordance with the Protocol of Kyoto. Both the clean development and joint action mechanisms permit governments to carry out emission reduction projects abroad and compute the reductions obtained to meet their own Kyoto objectives. The joint action projects can be conducted in other industrialized countries with committed aims, while the mechanism projects for clean development can be put into practice in developing countries which do not have any objectives to fulfill under the Protocol. In this regard, conservation agriculture could be the key to reducing greenhouse effect gas emissions, at the same time as capturing atmospheric carbon due to the elimination of tillage. For instance, in Spain conservation agriculture has been declared as a “sink” activity of CO2 in Royal Decree 1866/2004, by which the National Plan for Emission Rights was passed, although no specific potential for the capture of this gas was assigned.


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