Directorate for Consultative Work
Commission for Natural Resources
Brussels, 12 February 2015
2015 WORK PROGRAMME
of the
Commission for Natural Resources (NAT)
The following work programme has been drawn up in accordance with the work programme of the
European Commission for 20151. It aims to provide guidelines for the work to be carried out in 2015
and thereby help to ensure continuity and consistency in carrying forward the current priorities.
This draft programme may be subject to change in light of the decision on the new remits of the
European Committee of the Regions' commissions for the 2015-2020 mandate and of the forthcoming
CoR resolution on its political priorities for 2015, which will be adopted during the CoR Plenary
Session of 11-12 February 2015, as well as the rolling work programme expected to be issued by the
European Commission at a later stage.
The work programme will be approved by NAT members during the NAT meeting of 5 March and
adopted by the CoR Bureau on 15 April.
The remit of the Commission for Natural Resources covers the following fields:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
1
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and rural development
Forestry
Food production
Public health
Consumer protection
Fisheries
Maritime policy
Civil protection
Tourism
COM(2014) 910 final.
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EN
1.
NAT commission priorities
1.1
Political priorities
The NAT commission will focus in particular on the following policy areas and upcoming dossiers
with relevance for local and regional authorities:
Common Agricultural Policy and Rural Development
 Implementation of the CAP
 European Food Law review
 Sustainable development of rural areas
 Review of the GMO decision-making process
Forestry
 Review of EU Forest strategy
Maritime affairs and fisheries
 Reform and implementation of the CFP, including aquaculture
 State aid in aquaculture and fisheries
Consumer policy and public health
 Review of the legislative framework related to consumer rights and advertising
 Prospects for the dairy sector
Civil protection
Tourism
 EU cruise sector dialogue
 Digital tourism activities
1.2
Follow-up of opinions
The opinions of the European Committee of the Regions are the main political tools to transmit the
political viewpoint of CoR members to the other institutions of the European Union. In this new
mandate, the CoR and its constitutive bodies, as well as all services of the administration, will put
additional focus on the follow-up of opinions, in order to ensure that the messages of the CoR can
achieve the greatest political impact in the EU decision-making process.
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Developing a Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Ocean Area CDR 741/2012
Sustainability of rural areas CDR 3765/2013
Strategic Guidelines for the Sustainable Development of EU Aquaculture CDR 5292/2013
State Aid for Fisheries and Aquaculture CDR 5293/2013
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A new EU Forest Strategy: for forests and the forest-based sector CDR 7115/2013
The aid scheme for the supply of fruit and vegetables, bananas and milk to educational
establishments CDR 1278/2014
Policy package on organic production CDR 4832/2014
Green Paper on mobile Health CDR 4833/2014
European Strategy for more growth and jobs in coastal and maritime tourism CDR 2645/2014
The post 2015 Hyogo Framework for Action: Managing risks to achieve resilience
CDR 2646/2014
Innovation in the Blue Economy CDR 4835/2014
2.
Consultative work
2.1
Common Agricultural Policy and rural development
Opinion on the Reform of the common agricultural policy and rural development policy post-2013:
The NAT commission plans to follow up on the territorial implementation of the CAP and could
present an evaluation during the hearing planned by the Committee for agriculture and rural
development at the European Parliament.
Opinion on Sustainability of rural areas: the NAT commission will follow closely the work of the new
intergroup on rural, mountainous and remote areas and will work for explicit recognition of rural
territories as poles of development and innovation contributing to the EU 2020 Strategy, in a balanced
relationship with the urban poles.
Opinions on the phasing-out of the milk quota system: The CoR will explore through an owninitiative opinion the possibility of measures to help milk producers and preserve rural communities
throughout the EU. A TIA exercise was carried out in November 2014 in support of the Rapporteur.
Opinion on the Organic package: the NAT commission will follow closely the implementation of the
Action plan on organic farming. A seminar will be organised in Zwolle (The Netherlands) on "Action
plan for the future of organic production in the EU: time for regions to act". The aim of this seminar
is to improve the strategic capacity of European regions to orientate rural development policy towards
developing organic farming. The NAT commission will also explore the possibility of establishing a
platform to supervise and evaluate the action plan.
Opinion on the new food distribution programme in schools: the NAT commission will monitor very
carefully the discussion in the European Parliament and in the Council.
The NAT commission will also monitor the review of the GMO decision-making process.
The NAT commission will scrutinise any changes to the EU's high food safety and consumer
information standards proposed in the TTIP negotiations and the NAT commission will explore the
possibility of evaluating the consequences of the TTIP on the food safety standards.
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2.2
Forestry
Opinion on the new EU Forest Strategy: the NAT commission will contribute to the current
discussion in the European Parliament.
2.3
Maritime affairs and fisheries
The NAT commission will continue its follow-up activities with the other EU institutions in its
opinions on innovation in the blue economy, continuing its follow-up activities on points such as the
CoR call for a Knowledge and Innovation Community to be created for the Blue economy and an
enhanced framework for the inclusion of private business.
The NAT commission will examine the legislative proposal of the European Commission on technical
measures for the protection of marine organisms scheduled for 2015. The ongoing reform in the
fisheries sector, the implementation of the concept of regionalisation of the Common Fisheries Policy
and the impact on small scale coastal fishing communities are elements of the CFP that deserve
special attention.
The NAT commission could explore the possibility of issuing opinions on the Common Fisheries
Policy and the development of European aquaculture in particular, and intends to induce further
discussion on the trends and challenges in the aquaculture industry.
2.4
Consumer policy and public health
In line with the numerous opinions adopted during the last term of office, the NAT commission will
pay particular attention to the future of European health systems and their long term viability. The
NAT commission therefore plans to ensure a thorough follow-up to the European Semester Country
Specific Recommendations and monitor how national and regional healthcare systems are evaluated
by the Commission and how relevant authorities rise to the challenge of making their systems costefficient, sustainable and accessible to those in need.
Aware of the long shadow cast by the demographic change and convinced that the EU health systems
depend on their qualified and experienced staff, the NAT commission will look into details of the
Commission's study on Effective Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Health Workers and
analyse how local and regional authorities can contribute to a sustainable level of health workforce in
the EU. The NAT will also engage in the discussion on the future skills needed in the sector, notably
in the long-term care sector and in the dynamic digital and mobile health environment.
Concerned that on average across the EU Member States, 17% of the adult population is obese and
that one in three children are overweight or obese, the NAT commission will take a keen interest in
the activity of the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and will continue to
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promote through its opinions the value of healthy, balanced and diversified nutrition, based on high
quality European agricultural produce.
With regard to the consumer policy, the NAT commission will double its efforts to fight for a high
level of consumer protection to be ensured across all European policies and within international trade
agreements. The commission holds the position that no commercial interest can dictate a lowering of
our consumer protection acquis. The NAT commission will also follow up the fitness check of the
legislative framework related to consumer rights and advertising, as announced in the Commission's
work programme.
2.5
Civil protection
The NAT commission will continue to engage with other European institutions and with the United
Nations on the future Hyogo Framework for Action, making sure that the role of local and regional
authorities is rightfully taken into account in boosting prevention, stepping up preparedness and
sharpening responses to any future disasters.
In particular, the NAT commission representative will attend the 3rd World Conference on Disaster
Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan (March 2015) as a member of the EU delegation to share the views
of European mayors, councillors and presidents on resilience to disasters.
The NAT commission will also step up its cooperation with DG ECHO and its new Commissioner
and will hold a dedicated debate in May 2015 on the challenges and opportunities faced by European
and local and regional level authorities involved in civil protection.
2.6
Tourism
The NAT commission will follow up on its opinion on coastal and maritime tourism and continue to
engage with the European Commission on issues like innovation clusters in tourism and the role of
the cruise industry.
The European Committee of the Regions will also maintain its stance that tourism policies and
projects can neither ignore economic reality nor environment laws and will advocate smart and
targeted solutions making economic growth compatible with the respect of natural, social and cultural
heritage.
3.
Inter-institutional cooperation
The NAT commission will enhance its cooperation with the European Parliament and its AGRI,
PECH, ENVI, IMCO, TRAN and DEVE committees. This will include exchanges with the new
Committee Chairs, bilateral contacts and discussions between rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs.
The NAT commission will follow closely the work of the new intergroup on rural, mountainous and
remote areas.
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The NAT commission will explore opportunities to substantiate its opinions by commissioning
additional analysis from the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), as provided for in the
cooperation agreement between the CoR and European Parliament.
Where necessary, the NAT commission will invite representatives from the rotating Presidency, the
European Commission and EESC to its meetings. The NAT commission will explore the possibility
of contributing to the 9th European Organic Congress, Organic farming vision 2030 under the
Latvian Presidency, which will be held on 11 and 12 June in Latvia. In a similar vein, the NAT
commission will also target the High Level eHealth Week conference and High Level Conference
Healthy lifestyles: nutrition and physical activity for children and young people at school, both taking
place in Riga under the auspices of the Latvian Presidency.
4.
Cooperation with other organisations and bodies
The NAT commission will work closely with relevant European and national associations of regional
and local government and will encourage the exchange of information in areas of common interest.
Existing cooperation and contacts with Eurocities, the CEMR, CPMR, AEBR, AEM, AER, AREPO,
Euregha, EBCD, and others will be promoted.
Finally, the NAT commission will continue to develop its working relations with the UN World
Health Organisation and will take the political lead on the Memorandum of Understanding between
the CoR and the WHO, ensuring its timely signature in the early months of 2015.
With a view to enriching its consultative work and making it more relevant, the NAT commission will
work more closely with international centres of expertise, European think tanks and NGOs.
5.
Activities complementary to the consultative work
The NAT commission will also follow the international initiative launched by the City of Milan on
the occasion of Expo Milano 2015: the City of Milan is advocating an international protocol,
engaging the largest number of world cities to develop urban food systems based on the principles of
sustainability and social justice. This protocol has been called Urban Food Policy Pact and will
outline models and guidelines which can support the Mayors in their daily work to make their cities
more resilient to both hunger and CO2 emissions. This commitment for the coordination of
international food policies will be subscribed by Mayors on the occasion of a major event during
EXPO Milan 2015.
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N.B.:
Appendices overleaf
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*
APPENDIX I
List of documents already assigned to the NAT commission to be dealt with in 2015
Title of CoR document
Procedure
Common Agricultural Policy and rural development
Own initiative opinion on the future of the
Non-legislative proposal
dairy sector
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Scheduled adoption by
the CoR
April 2015
APPENDIX II
List of the principal legislative proposals and non-legislative documents corresponding to the
political priorities of the NAT commission for 2015
Reference of
Title of European Commission document
European
Commission
document
Common Agricultural Policy and rural development
Commission Work
New initiative No 23: Review of the GMO
Programme 2015
decision-making process
Commission Work
REFIT Action No 3: Specific measures for
Programme 2015
agriculture in the outermost regions of the
union (POSEI)
Consumer policy and public health
Commission Work
REFIT Action No 43: Fitness check of the
Programme 2015
European Food Law
Commission Work
REFIT Action No 62: Review of the legislative
Programme 2015
framework related to consumer rights and
advertising
Commission Work
REFIT Action No 71: Evaluation of trade
Programme 2015
diversion of certain key medicines
Maritime affairs and fisheries
nc
Technical measures for the protection of
marine organisms
Commission Work
REFIT Action No 30 – CFP - Evaluation of the
Programme 2015
impact of the Fisheries Control Regulation
(Reg.
EC
No
1224/2009)
on
the
implementation of the CFP rules and objectives
Tourism
nc
EU cruise sector dialogue
nc
Digital tourism
_____________

The list is indicative and subject to change.
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Procedure
Scheduled
adoption
by the
CoR
Legislative
proposal
Nonlegislative
proposal
2nd half of
2015
2nd half of
2015
Legislative
2015
Legislative
2015
Legislative
2015
Legislative
2nd half of
2015
2015
Legislative
Nonlegislative
Nonlegislative
2015
2015