With over 60 % of the population in the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) living in rural areas, which cover 90 % of the territory, rural development is a vitally important policy area. Farming and forestry remain crucial for land use and the management of natural resources in the EU's rural areas, and as a platform for economic diversification in rural communities. The strengthening of EU rural development policy has, therefore, become an overall EU priority.
Since the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, Rural Development is playing an increasingly important role in helping rural areas to meet the economic, social and environmental challenges of the 21st century. Rural areas make up 90 percent of the territory of the enlarged EU and the new legal framework points more clearly to the direction of boosting growth and creating jobs in rural areas – in line with the Lisbon Strategy – and improving sustainability - in line with the Göteborg sustainability goals.
Rural Development Policy is based on three main legal instruments: EU strategic guidelines for Rural Development, Council Regulation on support for rural development by the new European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and Commission Implementing Regulation.
EU strategic guidelines identify the areas important for the realisation of Community priorities and a range of options which Member States could use in their national strategy plans and Rural Development programmes. National Strategy Plans are translating the guidelines into the national context in the light of identified needs of regions; Rural Development programs are implementing the National Strategy Plans.
For each set of priorities, the EU strategic guidelines are suggesting key actions. Member States' national rural development strategies are based on six community strategic guidelines, which will help to:
The six strategic guidelines are:
1) Improving the competitiveness of the agricultural and forestry sectors
2) Improving the environment and the countryside
3) Improving the quality of life in rural areas and encouraging diversification
4) Building Local Capacity for Employment and Diversification
5) Translating priorities into programmes
6) Complementarity between Community Instruments
The Rural Development policy 2007-2013 focuses on three areas corresponding to the three thematic axes laid down in the new rural development regulation: improving competitiveness for farming and forestry; environment and countryside; improving quality of life and diversification of the rural economy. A fourth axis called "Leader axis" based on experience with the Leader Community Initiatives introduces possibilities for locally based bottom-up approaches to rural development.