Barroso and Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems

Subject: Barroso and Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems

Barroso is the first Portuguese territory to become part of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) and one of the first in Europe to be classified a GIAHS site. The GIAHS initiative consists of a certification process set up and promoted by the FAO with the aim of certifying traditional agricultural systems around the world which through their stand-out features – whether their diversity, traditional knowledge, biodiversity, landscape, socio-economic model or resilience to human, climatic and environmental changes – can help to improve the management of modern agricultural systems.

The Alto Tâmega Regional Development Association, the Boticas and Montalegre councils, the University of Minho and the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, agricultural producer organisations and associations, agriculture professionals and the region’s citizens worked on the Barroso application in partnership.

Taking into account that the Barroso region is severely depressed and has fallen behind other regions (the region’s GDP per capita is 35% lower than the EU average), do specific support instruments exist which could help the region to take advantage of its new classification and prevent social and regional disparities growing any worse?

Answer given by Ms Creţu on behalf of the European Commission

(26 July 2018)

European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds (1)) support strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion, so as to reduce disparities and promote regional economy's competitiveness.

In the programming period 2014-2020, the programme ‘Norte 2020’, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF) for an amount of EUR 3.8 billion, supports investment in the Norte region, part of which is specifically allocated to integrated territorial investments in the Comunidade Intermunicipal of Alto Tâmega.

In addition, the national programmes ‘Programa Operacional Sustentabilidade e Eficiência no Uso de Recursos’ (Cohesion Fund), ‘Compete 2020’ (ERDF, ESF and Cohesion Fund), ‘Programa Operacional Inclusão Social e Emprego’ (ESF), ‘Programa de Desenvolvimento Rural 2014-2020’ (EAFRD), can support investment in the region (2).

In line with the shared management principle governing the ESI Funds, managing authorities are responsible for the implementation of the programmes, including project selection, approval of support and setting appropriate timeframes for the submission of applications.

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (3) also supports eligible projects in sustainable agriculture. Its proposed successor, the InvestEU Fund, which is expected to mobilise at least EUR 650 billion in total investment over the next programming period, will provide support to economically viable projects, including in sustainable agriculture.

⋅1∙ ERDF (European Regional Development Fund); ESF (European Social Fund); Cohesion Fund; EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development) and EMFF

(European Maritime and Fisheries Fund).

⋅2∙ For more detailed information on the financing opportunities and on the implementation of these programmes, the Commission invites the Honourable Member to

consult the following websites: https://www.portugal2020.pt/Portal2020/ ; http://www.norte2020.pt/ ⋅3∙ https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/jobs-growth-and-investment/investment-plan-europe-juncker-plan_en . For latest results in the agriculture sector, see

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/jobs-growth-and-investment/investment-plan-europe-juncker-plan/investment-plan-results/efsi-agriculture-sector_en.