Presidency report GCM August 2007 Herning (DK) Piotr Grygier

1.On May 17th, 2006 I was elected as a presidium member of the Board of SITLiD. During the congress of SITLiD I had presented a report on UEF actions and involvement in some European tasks like EU Forests Action Plan and PAWS. 2.On November 20th, 2006 the Polish State Forests Holding and the Ministry of Environment in Poland organized a conference on “Forestry on World and Europe Forum – processes and initiatives.” I was asked to have a presentation on UEF and during 20 minutes speech I had described our organization, its aims and fields of work. 3.I have taken part in Seminary and meeting organized by European Network of Forest Entrepreneurs on 4th December 2006 at Alsace – France. The topic was “Role of Forestry in European Rural Development Policy”. ENFE hosted over 30 attendees from10 countries, among which were representatives of CEETTAR the Europen Agricultural Contractors Association, a delegate from UEF, the European Foresters Association and colleagues from the regional forestry sector and the European Commission.

Some conclusions from the meeting in France: 1.Not only new funding schemes for development of economies based on land use, but also the enhancement of partnership in rural value chains is a key element of the new political agenda. And it becomes clear that contractors as a productive link in these value chains are affected by EU policies. A challenge for small enterprises of course is to define their place in the complexity of the strategic policy schemes and to raise their recognition as part of the Forestry Wood Chain. 2.It was discussed that forestry and agriculture related services are not yet addressed in the EU policy documents, even if their importance is evident. 3.Thus, contractors are generally excluded from financial supporting schemes, even if their demand for support would be perfectly in line with the development goals.

Thank you