Institutional and political setting
The reference rules for application of CAP inside region Basilicata are the application rules produced European, National and by Regione Basilicata:
- Regolamento (CE) n. 1698/05 (EU ),
- DM n. 12541/2006( Italian Government)
- D.G.R. n. 2214 del 29.12.2008 (Regione Basilicata).
The latter contains the regulation to apply the CAP for 2009. The CAP has a malicious effect on the environmental degradation processes in the Rendina Basin. On the one hand we have the direct payments to farmers, at the condition of application of a set of best management practices such as: measures against concentrated erosion and against the loss of soil fertility and organic matter.
Regione Basilicta produced rules to apply the EU directives for CAP(see above) but at the same time produced , each year , a set of dispensation "deroghe"(in Italian") that allows, under given conditions, to the farmer don't apply the same ruled best management practices.
For example the burning of residues is forbidden by EU directive and national rules to prevent the loss of organic matter, but each year a dispensation rule is produced that allows that, including special rules how to perform the burning of residues in August-September. Similar contrasting rules and dispensations are published in the official Bulletin of Regione Basilicata each year (BUR n. 3 del 26.01.2009). Also important is the control of the implementation of CAP by national authorities.
The control of farmers' declarations for CAP subsidies is done year by year by the national agencies. These controls are accurate but these kinds of controls prevent the application of regional rules for best management and .for erosion prevention. For example to prevent erosion the establishment of contour grass strip inside the cereals field is suggested. But the farmer can't declare the presence of these strips (until 8% of entire surface in steep lands) in the declaration for CAP subsidies, and hence the reduced surface sown, because there is the risk of being accused of a false declaration for CAP subsidies, with the consequence of rejection of the annual subsidy.
The presence of some additional basic conservation measure cannot be included in the calculation of sown surfaces to obtain the CAP subsidies.
