A European multidisciplinary office for landowners and land managers
The European Landowners Organisation (ELO), created in 1972, is a unique federation of national associations from the EU27 and beyond, which represents the interests of landowners, land managers and rural entrepreneurs at the European political level. Independent and non-profit making, ELO is the only organisation able to stand for all rural entrepreneurs. Such a broad representative scope gives it an unmatched visibility and credibility in its relations with European decision makers, at the highest level.
ELO aims at promoting a prosperous countryside through the dynamism of private property. In the EU27, rural territories cover up to 90% of the European area. Therefore, a balanced development of these territories in connection with the development of urban areas is vital for the EU future. The countryside has to keep its ability to create economic activity and job opportunities as well as to protect and enhance its environmental heritage. Both are equally essential.
ELO targets its work and its actions towards seven major issues of European importance:
Environment
To forward its positions ELO has developed a lobbying strategy including think-tank work, involvement in EU and international conferences and workshops and action programmes. The efficiency of the organisation relies on its ability to gather together rural actors and political decision makers at local, regional, national and European levels. Its close network provides the ability to voice positions shared by a huge number of stakeholders from all over the EU and the candidate countries as well as to analyse the local effects of implementing EU legislation. This is unique in Europe.
Think Tank
To fuel its opinions and to be innovative, ELO considers it absolutely crucial to be able to put together experts of rural activities from scientific, economic, environmental and political backgrounds.
The ELO Consultative Committee gathers European personalities who are members of the ELO network as well as external persons whose prominent experience is known at the EU level. Punctual guests are also invited to bring new views on specific issues and to trigger fruitful debates. The conclusions of the Committee, which are of prospective quality, are used as guidelines for the ELO to look beyond the present debates.
Bell'Europa is a think tank focused on the theme of agri-environement. It has been created as a joint-venture between ELO and Casinazza di Baselica, an Italian environmental foundation. This body has elaborated the concept of 3rd Generation Agriculture. It has conducted two case studies and organises each year a seminar in a different Member Sates to study local agri-environmental practices and to review EU policy.
Natura 2000 Users' Forum was created by ELO and its partners to think about the challenges, the constraints and the opportunities land users have to face in Natura 2000 areas. The Forum is in close contact with DG Environment, which is part of the Commission Working Group debating the concept of "natural range" in Article 12 of the "Habitats Directive" (1992) and was involved in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the "Birds Directive" (1979).
The Private Landownership and Hunting Rights Committee was founded by ELO in order to answer the queries of landowners from the New Member States on hunting rights. A first conference has been organised in Bucharest in 2004 with representatives from the Member States, Candidate Countries and international organisations.
ELO works also with the International Centre for Research on Environmental Issues (ICREI) to explore how market tools can answer the environmental needs of a post-modern European society. ELO and ICREI organise jointly every two years an international conference on ownership rights, economics and environment. The 2004 conference was dedicated to "Waste Management".
Involvement in EU and international conferences and workshops
For its opinions to be known, ELO reckons that it has to be part of the bodies which debate over the future of the rural areas. ELO is often invited as a speaker or as a stakeholder to convey the opinion of the landowners and land managers.
ELO is member of the Commission's:
This position allows the organisation to keep in touch with the relevant Commission DGs, representatives of Member States and various stakeholders. It is also a enables ELO to be directly involved in the elaboration of EU legislation and its implementation.
During the Convention on the future of Europe, ELO was also part of the "Human Rights" Working Group to ensure that the protection of private ownership rights is included in the EU Constitution. To this end, Article 17 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights is now included in the Constitution and for the first time the protection of ownership rights are asserted at EU level.
Since 2002, ELO has been a member of the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forest in Europe (MCPFE). Most landowners are also forest owners. ELO wishes to be at the forefront of the political decisions concerning European forests. New services such as carbon sequestration, renewable energy production and biodiversity enhancement could be developed by forest managers and forest owners as society develops a need for them. ELO helps its members to develop good management practices and communication strategies on these themes.
ELO was invited to the San Francisco BIO 2004 conference which grouped together all of the economic and political actors involved in the biotechnology-sector from around the world. The organisation made clear that, for landowners and land managers, the use of these new technologies was both a new opportunity and a potential concern. Only species carefully monitored by the EU legislation, with ad hoc scientific screenings and creating real economic improvement for farm managers could be accepted.
Action programmes
To achieve its objectives, ELO has developed a wide range of concrete programmes, often with the support of the Commission. ELO relies on its extensive network of organisation members and associated members to convey information at the European, the national and the local level.
TAIEX 2003 : a one-day seminar organised by ELO in cooperation with DG Enlargement on "Rural Land ownership and utilisation issues" on 6 October 2003. This workshop included information about SAPARD programmes, implementation of environmental legislation, the legal framework and rural investment in Candidate Countries.
ELO Conference Series 2003-2004 : completed in one year - November 2003 / October 2004 - this series of conferences and workshops aimed to inform New Member States and Candidate Countries about the impact of Enlargement on rural activities. One launch-conference in Brussels and thirteen twinning workshops with representatives from all the Member States and the Candidate Countries were organised.
Natura Networking initiative (NNi) 2003 - 2007: ELO is at the forefront in defending the interests of landowners and land managers in the implementation of the Natura 2000 network. It wishes to promote, with partners and DG Environment, a sustainable implementation of the network both in economic and environmental terms.
"Food and Sanitary Safety in the New Member States and in the Candidate Countries: sharing experience and good practices at the European level" : this programme of three conferences developed by ELO for 2005 in cooperation with DG Enlargement is a PHARE project. The aim is to help rural professionals from the New Member States and the Candidate Countries to meet the European requirements before and after Enlargement.
ELO/CLA Carbon Sequestration Assessment Programme : with its member the Country Land and Business Association (UK) and the University of East Anglia, ELO elaborated a research programme on the carbon sequestration capacities of farming and forest estates in Europe. The Kyoto Protocol created flexible mechanisms in order to mitigate climate change, and landowners and land managers are pivotal partners in this process.
Beyond these examples ELO has elaborated other schemes with its partners, the European Commission and national governments on sustainable hunting, farming and wildlife conservation, forest management etc. Its ability to organise inter-disciplinary meetings and to synthesize innovative ideas puts it at the forefront of the think tanks in the agricultural and rural activities sector.
For more than 30 years ELO represents landowners and land managers at the local, national and European levels. Its permanent secretariat, in the heart of the European boroughs in Brussels is in direct contact with political decision makers at the highest level, economic leaders and various stakeholders involved in the rural activities.
Its 54 members from all over Europe give it a powerful and efficient network to better understand, to explain and to influence EU decisions. Joining ELO is not only a question of defending certain interests, it is also and more accurately a way to work towards a future of balanced development for Europe.