Building a Euro-Mediterranean agricultural and rural policy in a global context - 2nd Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Agriculture

Strasbourg, 27-28 September 2006

Statement by Joseph Borg, member of the Committee on Sustainable Development of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities

While congratulations for the Conference, I thank the joint organisers for my invitation. I am pleased to be present for such a profitable debate.

I am here as a member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities within the Council of Europe. I am also member of the Committee on Sustainable Development of the same Congress.

My comments are thoughts related with the different aspects of the Conference with particular focus to local and regional authorities.

Cohesion, competitiveness and sustainability are three inseparable goals for rural development policy. The goal of maintaining vital and productive rural communities cannot be reached without the involvement of local and regional authorities. Local and regional authorities should be involved at all stages of drawing-up and implementing rural development programmes.

A top-down approach alone would be doomed to fail. Rural areas do not all face the same challenges and a stronger governance based on the integration of the environmental dimension is needed. Both top-down, bottom-up and the whole rural development system must enable a better definition of clear targets and goals, delivered in a way which enables quality local actions.

Local and regional authorities are best suited to enhance economic potential and social well-being in rural areas. They have the political responsibility to respond and address to these requirements, such as equity of access to and accessibility of transport and communication means, education, health and administrative services, and all other essential services.

Development of other economic activities, i.e. agro and rural tourism, greater production of renewable energy crops, services of landscape preservation linked to environmental risk control, the review of rural culture and development of micro and medium enterprises and the welcoming of new populations, are also part of the political responsibilities of local and regional authorities.

However, some of these authorities within the Council of Europe do not have the necessary economic means at their disposal to do all this. Their ambition should be to help rural poles become true development poles with urban poles, whilst avoiding a "rurbanisation".

Agricultural and rural policies must focus on the delivery of public benefits such as the diversification of the rural economy, improvement of the quality of life in rural areas, quantity and quality of water together with sanitation areas and the enhancement of farmland wildlife via environmentally friendly farming schemes.

Sustainability is not only an issue of the conservation of natural resources. It is also a matter of practices in farming, forestry and land management. Local and regional authorities share the responsibility with the National level of governance for setting up integrated policies and programmes.

Regional products and agricultural products contribute to the cultural diversity, economic and social development of territorial economies. Gastronomic and culinary tradition are a key asset for local tourism.

Also labels are an excellent promotion tool for regions and their local producers, particularly in rural or isolated places. Quality labels can help regions move away from the automatisms of intensive agriculture, which lead to a strong price competition and stifle diversity.

Only an integrated approach to the environment of the rural areas, like soil protection, water management, forestry and climate change, can provide solutions to the challenges of rural economic decline and the improvement of quality of life in rural zones.