INFORMAL ENVIRONMENT COUNCIL : BIODIVERSITY: CALL FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IN TIMES OF CRISIS.

On the first day of the informal EU Environment Council, on 16 July in Vilnius, which wasalargely devoted to questions of funding for biodiversity programmes, Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik emphasised that "currently, discussing funding in Europe, in a difficult economic context, is not easy".

The opportunities that have emerged from the agreement on the new multiannual financial framework (MFF) were at the heart of discussions. Despite the modest funding for the LIFE programme (3 billion), the commissioner clarified that "in all the major instruments of the budget, there are possibilities for financing biodiversity". This is particularly the case with agricultural policy, cohesion policy and fisheries funds. "There are many possibilities for using this money, but there is no money reserved for these purposes, therefore the responsibility is largely in the hands of member states. These opportunities should be seized."

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