Page 5 - Economy_Local Development

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The European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) was established for this purpose. Prices
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were maintained by the EEC , thanks to special farms which were concerned with the purchase of surplus
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production at an intervention price slightly lower than the target price.

Due to the global food crisis and climate change, the reform of the common agricultural policy has recently
been the subject of debate in the European Parliament. From April to June 2010, Dacian Cioloş, the
European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, organised a public debate on the future of
the CAP. This debate was open to all sectors of society. According to the European Commissioner:
“European agricultural policy is not just a domain reserved for farmers. It is society as a whole that benefits
from this common European policy, which covers areas such as food, land management and environmental
protection”.

For this debate, the EU created a website where the general public, but also agricultural organisations,
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could send their contributions. The debate was focused on 4 questions. The public could express their
opinion on each question:

● Why a European Common Agricultural Policy?

● What objectives does society assign to agriculture in all its diversity?

● Why reform the current CAP and how can it meet society’s expectations?

● What are the tools for the CAP of tomorrow?

Individuals sent almost 6000 contributions, think tanks and stakeholders (farmers, etc.). Dacian Cioloș listed
the seven challenges that the CAP is facing today: food, globalisation, environment, economic
challenge, territorial challenge, agricultural diversity and policy simplification. His vision for the future,
using his words, is as follows: “I see a strong CAP, based on two pillars. A CAP that supports the diversity
of all European agriculture and rural territories, a CAP that creates the public goods that European society
expects” .
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1.2 European rural development funds and programmes

The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (abbreviated EAFRD) is a European Union
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structural fund dedicated to the promotion of agricultural activities and rural areas. The fund is limited in
time and is managed according to a seven-year programme. This fund places particular emphasis on the
so-called second pillar of the common agricultural policy, namely rural development. The first pillar
focuses on price support for agricultural products and direct income support for farmers, managed through
a non-structural fund, the EAGF.

1 https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/financing-cap/cap-funds_en
2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=legissum:xy0023
3 https://web.archive.org/web/20100415230300/http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cap-post-2013/debate/index_en.htm
4 https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/cap-glance_en
5 https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/rural-development_en#eafrd