European Union: the role of Rural Development Plans

The conservation of ecosystems and their services is fundamental for a sustainable economy and social development within the European Union. Incentives for the continuous on-farm use of biodiversity have become an integral part of EU support for regional and rural development in recent years. Furthermore, as a signatory of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, the EU Commission set itself the objective of stemming the decline of agricultural biodiversity not only in Europe but internationally. At European level, the measures aimed at achieving these objectives pass through the Common Agricultural Policy and are contained within the Rural Development Plans. This article provides a general framework of the implementation of these policies for the 2007-13 plan with particular reference to the situation in Italy, and dwells the extent to which they correspond to the objectives of the Treaty.