From the Forestry Strategy. to a Forest Action Plan

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1 From the Forestry Strategy to a Forest Action Plan Laulasmaa,

2 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW First Actions : Afforestation Cork production Protection from atmospheric. pollution EP Report urges Commission to take legislative action European Community established No systematic approach to forestry Measures to protect forests from fires Forestry measures related to CAP reform EU Forestry Strategy

3 EU Forestry Strategy Thomas Report of EP Agricultural Comm. (1995) Commission COM(1998)649 : November 1998 Council Resolution on FS : December 1998 Subsidiarity > NFP as main policy tool Multifunctionality of forests > economic ecological social SFM as the common ground Confirmation of existing agreements and processes (MCPFE/RIO 92 / IPF and follow up 3

4 ? Subsidiarity? 4 First mentioned in the Treaty of Maastricht,1992 Problem : how to define the division of competences between EU and MS : Exclusive Community Competence, e.g. Trade, Agriculture, Competition, Internal Market Shared competence between EU and MS, e.g. Environment, Energy, Transport National competence = MS only responsible by application of subsidiarity Principle : Decisions to be taken at most appropriate administrative level taking into acoount the local circumstances

5 Recent events : 5 Commission Communication, reporting on implementation of the EU Forestry Strategy, March 2005 Council Conclusions on an EU Forest Action Plan adopted on 30 May 2005 SFC meeting in Luxembourg, 2-3 June 2005, inviting MS inputs Seminars of invited experts, in September 2005, report suggesting vision and strategic objectives Comments of other EU bodies

6 FS Report : COM(2005) 84 fin 10 p. political text + 90 p. working paper The Commission proposed: (1) to develop an EU Action Plan for Sustainable Forest Management (2) to review the existing Community means and practices to facilitate co-ordination in the field of forestry 6

7 Council Conclusions: 7 Welcome the proposal to develop an EU Forest Action Plan Note that the basic principles and elements identified in the Strategy are still valid, but implementation needs to be adapted to the new policy context Recognize the limited visibility of the forest sector and the need for greater coherence in forest-related policies, suggest to update the EU Forestry Strategy

8 MS s inputs > Lux. SFC 14 Member States and 2 Acceding Countries used the opportunity to express their views in the context of the preparation of the Action Plan Cyprus France Ireland Slovenia Czech R. Germany Italy UK Denmark Greece Lithuania Bulgaria Finland Hungary Portugal Romania 8

9 Invited experts seminars - 10 experts from academia, governments, financial sector,... -EC officials from AGRI, ENV, ENTR, JRC, RTD, ESTAT ; REPORT : - VISION «Forests for society : long term multifunctional forestry fulfilling societal needs» - Strat. Objectives for forestry until the year 2020 : Economic functions Ecological functions Social functions - Need for governance and policy co-ordination 9

10 Role of other EU Institutions Opinion/reports are also formulated by : European Parliament (rapporteur : MEP H. Kindermann ) European Economic and Social Committee (rapporteur : Prof. S. Kallio ) Committee of Regions of the EU (rapporteur : Mr. E. Borghi ) - > Large variety of opinions to be taken into account by the Commission 10

11 Thematic working groups Proposed by the Commission, agreed by the SFC Oct To meet in Dec. 05 Jan 06, for drafting the FAP Group I : economic and social dimension Group II : ecologogical dimension Group III : coherence and co-ordination 11

12 The Commission proposed that proposals by 3 WGs should : Set priorities Have specific targets / clear goals Be both national and Community actions Where possible, specify a time perspective Include monitoring and assessment procedures 12

13 Addressing economical importance of forests means giving attention to : Services for and co-operation between small forest owners Support for investments in forestry and promote innovation in forestry Promoting new markets for wood products,especially wood as a material Promoting the use of forest biomass for energy, by mobilizing more forest output Assessing and value all forest goods and services, material and non material 13

14 Addressing social forest functions means giving attention to : Improving contribution of forests to rural development and quality of life in rural areas Providing amenity health, recreation and cultural values for increasingly urban societies Enhancing protective forest functions, for settlements and infrastructure Education, information and communication about goods and services provided by forest to society as a whole 14

15 Addressing environmental forest functions includes giving attention to : Forests as valuable ecosystems and as a natural bio-diversity heritage Forests as a landscape element providing ecological stability and integrity, especially in mountain areas Water quality and quantity Climate change mitigation measures, adaptation to climate change Air quality, forest monitoring Soil erosion and desertification Deforestation at global level 15

16 Coherence and co-ordination of forest policy means giving attention to : Public participation in forest management The visibility and the profile of forests and forestry Improving / creating new lines of research and innovation Co-ordination of other policies having influences on forests and forestry Links of forestry with other land-use issues Effective forest law enforcement Using the MCPFE C&I to monitor Sustainable Forest Management Promoting exchange of best practices among MS Co-ordination of EU involvement in international processes 16

17 A large variety of elements (1) 17 Areas of forest and other wooded land in EU, '000 ha A u s t r i a B e l g i u m D e n m a r k F i n l a n d F r a n c e G e r m a n y G r e e c e I r e l a n d I t a l y L u x e m b o u r g N e t h e r l a n d s P o r t u g a l S p a i n S w e d e n U n i t e d K i n g d o m C y p r u s C z e c h R e p u b l i c E s t o n i a H u n g a r y L a t v i a L i t h u a n i a M a l t a P o l a n d S l o v a k R e p u b l i c S l o v e n i a

18 A large variety of elements (2) Population density 1231/km2 Malta, 476/km2 Netherlands 17/km2 Finland, 22/km2 Sweden GDP per capita (EU average = 100) 214 Luxembourg, 122 Denmark and Austria 41 Latvia, 46 Poland Forest cover 75% Finland, 66% Sweden 9.6% Ireland, 11% Netherlands and Denmark Forest area per capita 4.2ha Finland, 3.1ha Sweden 0.1ha Germany and Belgium 18

19 A large variety of elements (3) Intensity of forest use, % 19 A u s t r i a B e l g i u m D e n m a r k F i n l a n d F r a n c e G e r m a n y G r e e c e I r e l a n d I t a l y L u x e m b o u r g N e t h e r l a n d s P o r t u g a l S p a i n S w e d e n U n i t e d K i n g d o m C y p r u s C z e c h R e p u b l i c E s t o n i a H u n g a r y L a t v i a L i t h u a n i a M a l t a P o l a n d S l o v a k R e p u b l i c S l o v e n i a

20 Further proceedings > FAP Commission to produce final draft based on WG outputs in March 2006 A website will allow the proceedings of the 3WGs to be consulted publicly Discussion of draft in SFC and AG F&C, 2006 Communication of the Commission mid

21 Thank you for your attention 21