NAT 

Commission for Natural Resources 

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The NAT commission brings together over 100 mayors, councillors and regional presidents and covers a wide range of topics related to rural development, health, agriculture, forestry, fishery, civil protection, consumer protection and tourism.

The Rural Agenda for Europe and the public health are the leading policy themes in the current mandate.

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Contents

About 

Two main policy areas have been identified for the current mandate, both fitting into the political priority of the institution "Building resilient communities":

1. A Rural Agen​​​da for Europe

The CoR has long called for the needs of rural areas to be recognised and addressed by a proper EU policy. In order to increase the attractiveness of rural areas as a place to live and work, it is necessary to fight depopulation, connect rural areas to the main EU transport corridors and guarantee universal broadband coverage, boost their recovery by better coordinating the Common Agricultural Policy, the ESI funds, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and other relevant EU financing programmes.

The Commission's long-term vision for rural areas from June 2021 provides for the first time a comprehensive framework to achieve these goals. NAT will also apply the rural-proofing for dossiers in its own remits.

Agriculture is one key policy which will contribute to the implementation of the agenda. The quality of the EU's agricultural products is one of the main added values of the CAP and one of the EU's key assets in international markets. Quality schemes implemented collectively are integral to the European Union's cultural, agricultural and culinary heritage. These quality schemes represent a shared heritage that must be protected and developed.

The NAT commission closely follows the implementation of the new CAP at regional level.

The NAT commission works on resilient and sustainable agriculture to achieve the Green Deal objectives and to strengthen the security of European food supplies, especially in times of crisis and shortage of provisions.

2. E​​uropean Health Union

Despite the achievements of the regions and cities in fighting the pandemic, their role in building Europe's health resilience is largely unacknowledged. Vaccination campaigns, cancer screening, preparedness and response, the resilience of health systems, information and education about health – these are just some key areas where regional policy and practice make the difference. Advocating for a more visible role for the regions in the European Health Union and its pillars is the key objective of NAT works.

NAT leads on the CoR contribution to the Platform of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

In close cooperation with the RegHub and Fit4Future platforms, NAT also works on cross-border cooperation in healthcare, which is a very sensitive priority, especially in times of crisis and a health/humanitarian emergency in some border regions.

The commission for Natural Resources – NAT – covers the following policies:

  1. Rural development
  2. Public health
  3. Agricultural policy and food
  4. Forestry
  5. Civil protection
  6. Tourism
  7. Consumer protection
  8. Maritime policy – blue economy and fisheries

Latest news

Meetings

Next Meetings

Previous Meetings

Opinions

Adopted opinions

Opinions currently in discussion

Studies

  • Tourism and rural development

    Publication date: 14/03/2024Theme:Transport policy, Environment policy, Agriculture, Fisheries and maritime affairs, TourismAuthor:Izabela Marcinkowska, Agnieszka Maj, Katarzyna Sidło
  • Rural areas and the geography of discontent

    Publication date: 05/02/2024Theme:Agriculture, Rural development, Future of Europe, Disinformation, Cohesion policy reform, Investment policy, Multi-annual financial framework (MFF), Sustainable developmentAuthor:Jennifer McGuinn, Arianna Cantarelli, Agnieszka Kulesa, Giovanni Carletti, Ivan Lichner, Margaux Truc, Marie Müller, Martin Hudcovsky, Martyna Gliniecka (Milieu Consulting SRL)
  • The cost of non-rurality - preparing for a better urban-rural balance in EU funding

    Publication date: 28/04/2023Theme:AgricultureAuthor:Jorge Núñez Ferrer, Tamás Kiss-Gálfalvi, Doina Postica (CEPS), Izabela Marcinkowska and Karolina Zubel (CASE)
  • Repercussions of the agri-food crisis at local and regional level

    Publication date: 20/10/2022Theme:Food productionAuthor:Tinatin Akhvlediani and Meryem Gökten CEPS) and Izabela Marcinkowska, Jan Bazyli Klakla and Delia Agostinelli (CASE)
  • Rural proofing – a foresight framework for resilient rural communities

    Publication date: 30/05/2022Theme:Rural developmentAuthor:Roland Gaugitsch, Isabella Messinger, Wolfgang Neugebauer, Bernd Schuh (ÖIR), Maria Toptsidou, Kai Böhme (Spatial Foresight
  • How local and regional authorities use World Heritage agricultural landscapes as a tool for enhancing the economic and social sustainability of rural areas

    Publication date: 27/04/2022Theme:Agriculture, CultureAuthor:Fabio Bisogni (Fondazione FORMIT), Rossella Soldi, Simona Cavallini (Progress Consulting S.r.l.), Lorenzo Di Matteo (Fondazione FORMIT)
  • Regional differences in COVID-19 response - exposure and strategy

    Publication date: 25/08/2021Theme:Long-term strategy for investment, growth and jobs (renewed Europe 2020), Sustainable development, Public health, Consumer policy, Demographic changeAuthor:Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l.)
  • The impact of CAP on territorial development of rural areas

    Publication date: 08/02/2021Theme:Agriculture, Rural developmentAuthor:Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l.)
  • Experiences of rural areas with European Union’s COVID-19 response measures

    Publication date: 13/01/2021Theme:Public healthAuthor:Alan Matthews, Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l.)
  • Regional health policy responses to the COVID crisis

    Publication date: 07/10/2020Theme:Public healthAuthor:Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l.)
  • Implementation of the Cross-border Healthcare Directive in the European regions

    Publication date: 06/10/2020Theme:Public healthAuthor:Rossella Soldi and Dionne Kringos (Progress Consulting S.r.l., Italy)
  • The role of local and regional authorities in making food systems more sustainable

    Publication date: 18/09/2020Theme:Agriculture, Food productionAuthor:Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l.) and Simona Cavallini (Fondazione FORMIT)
  • Evaluation of the impact of the current CAP on the agriculture of developing countries

    Publication date: 20/09/2019Theme:Agriculture, Development cooperationAuthor:Alan Matthews and Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l., Italy)
  • Consumer Protection

    Publication date: 21/12/2018Theme:Consumer policyAuthor:Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l.) and Simona Cavallini (Fondazione FORMIT)
  • Sustainable Forest Management in Regions

    Publication date: 27/07/2018Theme:Environment policy, ForestryAuthor:Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l.) and Simona Cavallini (Fondazione FORMIT).
  • Sustainable public procurement of food

    Publication date: 19/04/2018Theme:Food production, Sustainable development, Public procurementAuthor:Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l., Italy)
  • Mid-term evaluation of the first priority domain of the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming

    Publication date: 28/02/2018Theme:Food production, Rural development, AgricultureAuthor:Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l.) and Simona Cavallini (Fondazione FORMIT).
  • The management of health systems in the EU Member States – The role of local and regional authorities

    Publication date: 12/11/2017Theme:Public healthAuthor:Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l) and Cecilia Odone.
  • The management of health systems in the EU Member States

    Publication date: 01/01/2017Theme:Climate change policy, Future of EuropeAuthor:Rossella Soldi
  • Evolution of the Budget Dedicated for Rural Development Policy

    Publication date: 29/11/2016Theme:Rural developmentAuthor:Rosella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l., Italy & Living Prospects Ltd, Greece)
  • Implementation of the Sendai Framework at the EU level: the take-up of resilience measures by Local and Regional Authorities

    Publication date: 06/10/2016Theme:Disaster preventionAuthor:Rossella Soldi (main author) (Progress Consulting S.r.l., Italy & Living Prospects Ltd, Greece).
  • Developing Blue economy through better methodology for assessment on local and regional level

    Publication date: 28/09/2016Theme:Fisheries and maritime affairsAuthor:Alexander Charalambous (Progress Consulting S.r.l., Italy & Living Prospects Ltd, Greece)
  • Evaluation of the Market Responsibility Programme put forward by the European Milk Board taking 2014 as a test year

    Publication date: 22/05/2016Theme:Food production, AgricultureAuthor:Progress Consulting S.r.l., Italy & Living Prospects Ltd., Greece
  • Mapping of the disadvantaged areas for milk production in Europe

    Publication date: 22/05/2016Theme:Food production, AgricultureAuthor:Rossella Soldi (Progress Consulting S.r.l. & Living Prospects Ltd.)
  • Sustainable and competitive tourism – New funding opportunities for local and regional authorities

    Publication date: 05/06/2014Author:Progress Consulting S.r.l. and Living Prospects Ltd.
  • Health in the Regions - Cross Border Health Care: Harmonization in European Regions

    Publication date: 31/12/2011Author:European Institute of health of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

Composition

  • portrait of Isilda Maria Prazeres GOMESIsilda Maria Prazeres GOMESPresident@IsildaCor
  • portrait of Radim SRŠEŇRadim SRŠEŇFirst Vice-President / First Vice-Chair
  • portrait of Hardijs VENTSHardijs VENTSSecond Vice-President / Second Vice-Chair

​Secretariat

Head of Unit: Serafino NARDI 

Deputy Head of Unit: Dorota T omalak, in charge of Health policies and relations with WHO, tourism and relations with UNWTO (Team B)

Assistant to Head of Unit: Susanna Sjöström, in charge of general support to NAT work, organisation of meetings and horizontal coordination

Cicero Trainee: Antoine Berard, in charge of the general support to NAT work and communication

 

Administrators:

Hélène Moraut, in charge of Common Agriculture Policy and Bioeconomy (Team A)

Anemarija Kosjek, in charge of Food policy, Consumer Protection, Blue Economy and Forestry (Team A)

Klaus Boele, in charge of Rural Agenda and BRASS (Team A)

Sirle Mere, in charge of Civil Protection and relations with UNDRR (Team B)

 

Seconded National Expert:

Florencia Cuervo Torres, in charge of Tourism policies (Team B)

 ​

Assistants:

Michele Bandiera : general support to Team B

Luca Venosta, general support to Team B

Simona Livideanu, general support to Team A

Multimedia

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    EU organic awards: apply now!
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    Summit 2022 - Round tables: Anticipating, preventing, adapting: Territories and climate risks

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