Action plans should be practical tools to achieve the integration of biodiversity into sectoral and cross-sectoral policy areas and instruments relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
To implement this strategy, the relevant actors in the policy areas will have to develop the action plans and other measures in view of the specific goals they are pursuing and with the specific mechanisms and procedures to which they are subject. The actors requested to elaborate or contribute to the elaboration of action plans and other measures are in the first instance the relevant agencies and services responsible for the policy area concerned, working in close co-ordination with each other as well as in co-operation with other institutions and bodies and national authorities where the responsibility for the definition and implementation of measures is shared. Action plans should take the form of proposals for legal instruments.
Taking into account Article 3 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), action plans should also ensure that policies and instruments do not cause damage to the environment of third countries or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and help third countries in their efforts to achieve conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Action plans should be an integral part of the existing sectoral policy agendas and should make use of the existing agreements and international undertakings.
The European Commission adopted the European Community Biodiversity Strategy in 1998, which was supported by Council conclusions and well received by the European Parliament. The Strategy provides the framework for developing Community policies and instruments in order to comply with the CBD. The policy areas concerned within the Strategy are conservation of natural resources, agriculture, fisheries, regional policies and spatial planning, forests, energy and transport, tourism and development and economic co-operation. The Strategy includes the obligation for the European Commission to work out Action Plans for a number of sectors. The one on agriculture was well advanced in February 2000.
The implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity by the European Community calls for a two-step process. The adoption of the European Community Biodiversity Strategy containing the general policy orientation is the first step. The second is the development and implementation of Action Plans and other measures by the Commission through its services responsible for the policy areas concerned. This second step will enable the Commission to translate into concrete actions the objectives derived from the Convention. By establishing a mechanism to ensure the integration of biodiversity concerns into other policy areas and instruments the strategy contributes to filling a gap in existing Community conservation policy.