Collective Impact
The open countryside as a
double resource
Jarmers Plads 2
1551 Copenhagen V
Denmark
European Commission
Commissioner Phil Hogan
DG Agriculture and Rural Development
130, Rue de la Loi
B – 1049 Brussels
Belgium
Dear Mr Hogan
The European Commission's proposal for simplification of the greening requirements
strengthens the bond between nature and agriculture
Small features in the landscape; the small, unprotected patches of nature in the form of
hedgerows, trees, field margins, ponds and stone walls, are the glue that connects the ar-
able land together in an attractive and varied agricultural landscape.
When unprotected landscape features and field roads lose their original function in our
cultivation of the landscape, they risk disappearing altogether. If these landscape features
disappear, many plant and animal habitats will disappear with them, along with access to
recreational opportunities. We know this development well in Denmark.
As representatives of the users of the multifunctional values of the agricultural landscape,
we have a strong interest in ensuring that, to the widest possible extent, the individual
farmer has a positive incentive to preserve biotopes, landscape features and farm roads
and to take a large number of other wildlife-friendly and bee-friendly initiatives.
Such incentives already exist in the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and a substan-
tial number of the landscape features listed above can contribute to meeting the CAP re-
quirement to have 5% of a farm's land comprise ecological focus areas (EFAs).
We are monitoring with great interest the Commission's proposals for simplification of
the greening requirement regarding landscape features as ecological focus areas. We un-
derstand that the Commission has proposed that several of the landscape features be
merged and the rules be simplified.
Simpler regulation and financial incentives instead of administrative red tape and reduc-
tions in agricultural subsidies will allow us to couple considerations for a diverse and val-
ued culture landscape with the need for space for an evolving agricultural industry
and
the need for landscape features that make the open countryside an attractive place in
which to live and spend leisure time.
We therefore back the Commission's proposal to simplify the regulations for EFA land-
scape features, and we call for additional simplification of the requirements for drafting
electronic forms and maps indicating the location of land eligible for subsidies.
T +45 40 49 57 76
www.collectiveimpact.dk
9 January 2017