-- Aragón

Common Agricultural Policy: 1st pillar - Direct payments (Aragón)

2014-06-04T09:08:27+00:00

Authors:	Artemio Cerda, Felix Gonzalez
Coordinating authors:	Constantinos Kosmas, Ruta Landgrebe, Sandra Nauman, Marit de Vries
Editors:	Alexandros Kandelapas, Jane Brandt

{xtypo_alert}Editor's note 20Mar14: Source D242-3{/xtypo_alert}

The advisor of agriculture, cattle ranches and the environment (equivalent of an agriculture minister) of the Aragón government is the main policy actor. Further actors are cattle farmers.

The main policy instruments and procedures related to the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, as implemented through Real Decreto 202/2012 on direct payments. This policy integrates the CAP support for agriculture, livestock, agri-environment and the request for compensatory damages in mountain areas. Assistance from the CAP serves to:

grant aid to agricultural income,
surface or livestock statements related to other requests for aid,
guarantee an income level to have living conditions similar to urban areas,
stabilize markets, and
ensure access to products at a reasonable price for final consumer.

Policy actors include public authorities, famers and land users. The holders of agricultural land or cattle dealers receive subsidies. In terms of livestock, parties/farms eligible for subsidies include:

farms that keep dairy cows;
beef production of officially recognized quality.

Policy measures (including funding) intend to:

compensate farmers for the milk production of dairy cattle in economically vulnerable or sensitive areas from environmental point of view (less favoured areas);
provide financial support for sheep and goats that are covered by designations of quality production.
provide financial support for sheep and goats oriented towards meat production, with the purpose to compensate specific disadvantages linked to the economic viability of this type of exploitation.

Agricultural parcel data. The declaration of permanent pasture exploitation and grazing coefficients grass plots are calculated as follows: in the plots of grass with trees, grass and shrub-grass, the area eligible for payment entitlements is determined by multiplying the surface of the enclosure by the ratio of grazing. For the identification of the agricultural parcels, GIS is used.

Common Agricultural Policy: 2nd pillar - Rural development policy (Aragón)

2014-06-04T09:11:27+00:00

Implemention of the CAP (2nd pillar) at the autonomous community level takes place through the Programme of Rural Development (PDR) of Aragón, 2007-2013. The program streamlines all rural development aid for Aragón, which was almost €14 million for the period 2007-2013. The program includes:

measures to promote knowledge and to improve human potential (7.94%);
measures to improve the quality of agricultural products (0.72%);
measures on the viable use of agricultural areas (21.23%);
measures to reconstruct and develop physical potential and promote innovation, receiving the greatest portion of the total public spending of the RDP.

Each rural area – or "Region" in the case of Aragón – relies on its corresponding Plan of Zone, a document establishing a rural development strategy and financial commitments for an established region. Details are articulated through an agreement between the General Administration of the State and the Government of Aragón and participation of the regions.

Project development is done by Local Action Groups (LAGs), located in the counties (comarcas). There are 33 counties and 20 LAGs in Aragón. The Central Pyrenees study site includes two counties and two LAGs, Jacetania - Alto Gallego and Sobrarbe - Ribagorza. All city councils participate in LAGs alongside more than 90 other entities (cooperatives, associations etc).

Financing of measures in two LAG areas, 2007-2013

Programme	Alto Gállego (mill €)	Sobrarbe (mill €)	LEDDRA study site (mill €)
PDR (2007-2013)	13.8	17.4	31.2
Tourism	2.3	1.9	4.2

Source: http://www.aragonrural.org

The population of both LAGs is different, more than 12,000 inhabitants. Nevertheless, the distribution of the funds is greater for the Sobrarbe zone, which has lower population density and relies heavily on agricultural and cattle activity (12% of the population versus 6% of the population in the High Gallego region).

Available measures applied in the area are as follows.

Compensation for work in disadvantaged areas: 94 €/ha for Mountain zones and 57 €/ha for non-mountain zones.
Natura 2000 payments: protection of nonproductive woodland (22 €/ha), extensive grazing, grazing at least 150 days/year, maintaining grazing pressure between 0.4 and 1.3 LU /ha (large livestock unit per ha), compensation for regulatory limitations (unitary bonus - 120 €/ha.
Maintenance of pure native races in danger of extinction: unitary bonus (121 €/LU).
Maintenance of the grazing on meadows and grasslands: 36 €/ha rising for grasslands above 1500 m altitude (“puertos”).
Slaughter premium.

The breakdown of type of aid demanded by the 85 farmers polled in the study site is shown below.

The two regions in the study site exhibit significant high per capita rent, population increases and diversification of socio economic activities since 1980, particularly since the Rural Development Programme of Aragón was first implemented in 2002. Local Action Groups have been very effective with regard to monitoring, dissemination and technical support of the program, resulting in employment generation, with small entrepreneurs serving to complement primary sector activity.

Natural heritage and biodiversity (Aragón)

2014-06-04T09:37:14+00:00

(LEY 42/2007, de 13 de diciembre, del Patrimonio Natural y de la Biodiversidad)

This act establishes the basic legal conservation, sustainable use, enhancement and restoration of natural heritage and biodiversity as part of a duty to preserve and provide a sustainable environment. Among the objectives of the act are the maintenance of essential ecological processes and systems vital for the basic preservation of biodiversity, genetics, population and species, as well as the preservation of the variety, uniqueness and beauty of natural ecosystems and geological and landscape diversity.

Policy actors include the local, autonomous government, in the context of national and European provisions (Natura 2000 network).

The declaration and management of protected natural areas corresponds to the autonomous communities where the territory is located. This law maintains the ability to create peripheral protection for these areas. The law also details specific provisions aimed to promote awareness, conservation and restoration, natural heritage and biodiversity. Furthermore, the law incorporates the creation of the Heritage Fund Nature and Biodiversity, which will act as a co-financing instrument to assure territorial cohesion and the achievement of the objectives. In particular, the development of three year-plans (including management instruments) is an important document aiming to implement measures to support sustainable forest management, prevention strategic forest fires, land stewardship and protection of natural areas and forest part-financed by the General State. Funding is also provided to environmentally engaged non-for-profit association dealing with conservation, restoration and improvement of natural heritage and biodiversity.

The law also includes subsidies for projects under the topics of investigation and conservation, forest fire prevention and conservation of the biodiversity. These projects would be included in a fourth possible capital – scientific or research capital.

The following two laws are also important for the land use management in the area:

Law 5/2007 Natural Park Network. 42/2007 Law of Natural Patrimony and Biodiversity, which establishes the regulatory basic regimen for conservation, sustainable use and restoration of natural legacy and biodiversity.
Real decreto 409/1995, from March 17 (Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación), which establishes the Management Plan for the OMPNP (Plan Rector de Uso y Gestión del Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido).