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Rural Development Policy Overview

EU Strategic Guidelines for Rural Development

EU strategic guidelines provide the basis on which Member States prepare their national strategy plans for rural development.

Rural Development Policy is a strategic approach that defines the EU’s priorities for rural development. On February 2006 the Council adopted the EU Strategic Guidelines for rural development.

The strategic guidelines are:

  • Improving the competitiveness of the agricultural and forestry sectors
  • Improving the environment and the countryside
  • Improving the quality of life in rural areas and encouraging diversification
  • Building local capacity for employment and diversification
  • Ensuring consistency in programming
  • Complementarity between Community instruments

These provide the framework within which Member States prepare their national strategy plans for rural development. To see more about the national strategy plans click here.

The national strategies in turn inform the rural development programmes themselves. To see more about the national and regional plans click here.

The focus of rural development policy

The strategic guidelines outline the focus of rural development policy in three key areas, namely: the agrifood economy, the environment and the broader rural economy and population. These guidelines form the framework within which the 2007-2013 generation of rural development strategies and programmes have been developed at Member State level in line with this framework built around four axes. To see more about the four axes click here.