Resource information
According to article 91a, paragraph 1, of the German Constitution (Grundgesetz) measures on the improvement of production methods, working conditions, management and in general in the agricultural, fishery, forestry and water sector shall be taken with the agreement of regional governments. To this end a common Frame Work Plan is devised and every year within the 1 March the Länder submit a general working plan to the Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forestry for approvement within the said Frame Work.The afore-mentioned Plan transposes into German Law the Regulation (EU) No. 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). The Plan or commonly referred to as Joint Task for the Improvement of Agricultural Structures and Coastal Protection (GAK) is an essential element of the national strategy and constitutes the thematic and financial core of many Länder programmes. It contains a wide range of agricultural structures and infrastructure measures, thus covering large parts of the scope of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD Regulation). Most GAK measures can be strengthened by the afore-mentioned Funds from Brussels. Through the GAK scheme, more than EUR 600 million of federal funds alone are made available for the development of agriculture and rural areas every year. Together with the Länder funds, the total resources of the GAK amount to more than EUR 1 billion a year. Added to this is EAFRD funding in the order of nearly EUR 1.2 billion and funding by the Länder and municipalities. Financial support within the framework of the Joint Task is aimed at making the agriculture and forestry sectors efficient, competitive and oriented towards future challenges, while safeguard the vitality of rural areas and improvement of coastal protection. It is the most important in national support for agriculture, coastal protection and rural areas.Key objectives include: Improving the competitive and efficiency of agriculture, forestry and food sectors; Support of environmentally-friendly methods and the adaptation of agriculture and forestry to the requirement of environment and nature protection; Securing and strengthening the functional capacity of the rural area Improvement of coastal protection.The Plan consists of 6 Parts as follows: Introduction (I); Promotion measures (II). This Parts deals with various funding areas: Improvement of rural structures: A) Integrated rural development; B) Water management measures; Funding area: Promotion of agricultural enterprises: A) Single company promotion; B) Advice; Funding area: Improvement of marketing structures: A) Improving the processing and marketing structure for agricultural products; B) Improving the processing and marketing structure for the fishing industry; Funding area: Market and locally adapted agriculture: A) Cooperation in rural areas for a market and site-specific land management; B) Organic farming and other particularly sustainable total operational procedures; C) Particularly sustainable method of farming or for annual crops; D) Particularly sustainable practices in the permanent grassland; E) Particularly sustainable method for permanent crops; F) Especially animal-friendly housing systems; G) Maintaining the diversity of genetic resources in agriculture. Funding area: Forestries: A) Close to nature forest management; B) Forestry infrastructure; C) Forestry associations; D) Afforestation. Funding area: Health and robustness of farm animals. Promotion area: Coastal protection; Funding area: Less-favoured areas. Importance of promotion measures (III); Summary of fund declarations 2015 for the Federal Territory (IV); Update of the master plan for the budget years 2016-2018 (V); Spending Review 2014 (VI).
Implements: Act on improvement of agricultural structure and coast protection. (1969-09-03)
Implements: Regulation (EU) No. 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No. 1698/2005. (2013-12-17)
Implements: Federal Nature Protection Act. (2008-12-22)
