European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development

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Sign of the fund with support measures at the Marienhöhe farm , Brandenburg

The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, mostly known only by its abbreviation EAFRD , promotes the development of rural areas in the European Union . It is the so-called 2nd pillar of the common EU agricultural policy (GAP) and is intended to accompany the agricultural direct payments in the 1st pillar of the CAP.

The EAFRD was established by a regulation of the Council of the European Union of September 20, 2005 and started its activity in 2007.

The EAFRD replaced part of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund ( EAGGF ). In the EAFRD, the member states (in Germany the federal states) have leeway when designing individual EU-funded measures. An essential component of the EAFRD are agri-environmental measures that reward agricultural management changes in terms of environmental or nature conservation. The evaluation of EAFRD-funded measures with regard to the effects on environmental protection and nature conservation is mixed. In addition to effective measures, there are also many ineffective measures, depending on the state.

Funding period 2007 to 2013

The EAFRD had 4 focal points, which were also known as axes :

  1. Increasing the competitiveness of agriculture and forestry
  2. Improvement of environmental and animal welfare in the landscape
  3. Increasing the quality of life in rural areas and diversifying the rural economy
  4. LEADER

Funding period 2014 to 2020

The EAFRD and the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund ( EAGF ) are the two financial instruments of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The EAFRD regulation is the legal basis for what is known as the second pillar of the CAP policy.

In the funding period from 2014 to 2020, EAFRD funding pursues the following goals, which are referred to as the "six priorities":

  1. Promotion of knowledge transfer and innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas
  2. Promoting the competitiveness of all types of agriculture and generational change on farms
  3. Promote food chain organization and risk management in agriculture
  4. Restoration, conservation and improvement of ecosystems that depend on agriculture and forestry
  5. Promote resource efficiency and support the agri-food and forest sectors in transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy
  6. Promote social inclusion, economic development and the fight against poverty in rural areas

Implementation is carried out on a decentralized basis by the member states on the basis of national planning. In Germany, each federal state implements its own so-called “development program for rural areas”. Funding guidelines of the federal states such as stable construction funding (agricultural investment funding), agricultural diversification, land consolidation and rural road construction, forest funding, village renewal and regional development , funding for disadvantaged areas , organic farming funding , animal welfare, agri-environmental or contract nature conservation programs are included in most federal states in the development programs bundled for rural areas and thus provided with EU co-financing (50–75% of the funds can then come from the EU from the EAFRD fund). Baden-Württemberg , for example, implements the Landscape Management Directive (LPR) as part of the EAFRD. The national and regional plans require the approval of the European Commission .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nicolas Schoof, Rainer Luick, Guy Beaufoy, Gwyn Jones, Petar Einarsson, Javier Ruiz, Vyara Stefanova, Daniel Fuchs, Tobias Windmaißer, Hermann Hötker, Heike Jeromin, Herbert Nickel, Jochen Schumacher, Mariya Ukhanova: Grassland Conservation in Germany: Drivers of Biodiversity , Influence of agri-environmental and climate measures, regulatory law, dairy industry and effects of climate and energy policy . In: BfN script . No. 539 . BfN, Bonn - Bad Godesberg, p. 257 ( researchgate.net ).
  2. ↑ Jan Freese: Nature and biodiversity protection in EAFRD . tape 44 , no. 3 . Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning, 2012, p. 69-76 .