In June 2021, the European Commission published a communication setting out a long-term vision for the EU's rural areas. Offering an initial analysis of the communication and its implications for future policy for rural areas, this briefing examines the challenges and opportunities these areas face. It summarises the views and responses of stakeholders regarding the Commission's long-term vision and the findings of the public consultation launched by the Commission in September 2020. Evidence is also presented on the levels of trust rural dwellers have in the different levels of governance. The key drivers that will shape rural areas between now and 2040 are identified from the findings of a foresight analysis undertaken by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), which is included in the communication. Lastly, consideration is given to the experience of applying the rural proofing mechanism, including perspectives on its utility and application in practice.
This Briefing forms part of an EPRS series offering syntheses of the pre-legislative state of play and consultation on key European Commission priorities during the current five-year term. It summarises the state of affairs in the relevant policy field, examines how existing policy is working on the ground, and, where possible, identifies best practice and ideas for the future on the part of governmental organisations at all levels of the EU system of multilevel governance. EPRS analysis of the positions of partner governmental organisations at EU, national, regional and local levels suggests that these public authorities would like the following main considerations to be reflected in discussions on the forthcoming Commission communication on the long-term vision for rural areas.
Evaluation evidence is emerging on the impact of the common agricultural policy (CAP) on the territorial development of the EU's rural areas. Measures relating to village renewal and LEADER (Liaison entre Actions de Développement de l'Économie rurale) measures are considered to be well-targeted and relevant to local needs, although they represent a small proportion of CAP financing. Administrative burdens have been raised as an issue that can impact on the developmental process. Recommendations from this evaluation evidence point to the need for better integration of funding streams, the need to maintain a dialogue across the European structural funds, and all the implications this may have for the new CAP strategic plans. The Commission's recommendations to Member States on their CAP strategic plans highlight a number of recurring themes relating to the employment, education and training needs of rural areas, including the need to address rural depopulation, promote generational renewal, improve connectivity, and address the role played by action taken at local level. The vision and its supporting analyses will provide a framework for addressing the future of the EU's rural areas.
The Commission's legislative proposals on the future of the common agricultural policy (CAP) were published on 1 June 2018. They comprise three proposals: a regulation setting out rules on support for CAP strategic plans; a regulation on the single common market organisation (CMO) and a horizontal regulation on financing, managing and monitoring the CAP. The proposal for a regulation on CAP strategic plans introduces a new delivery model, described by the Commission as a fundamental shift in the CAP, involving a move from compliance towards results and performance. It includes a new distribution of responsibilities between the EU and Member States. A new planning process is proposed that will cover all the CAP measures, previously covered by different regulations and policy designs. Following its adoption in December 2021, the CAP strategic plans regulation will apply as of 1 January 2023. Fourth edition of a briefing originally drafted by James McEldowney and Patrick Kelly. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure.
One of the key demographic challenges facing rural areas is the ageing population, not only among farmers but also among the rural population in general. This paper examines the demographic profile of older people in the EU's rural areas, and presents a series of issues pertaining to the situation facing older people. Topics covered include health and access to services, issues of social isolation and loneliness, the role of technology and lifelong learning, access to social care, and the impact of climate change. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has brought the health status of older people more sharply into focus and highlighted their vulnerability. The views of a number of stakeholders are summarised along with the measures available under the EU's rural development policy and other structural funds.
Although there is no legal definition of a 'smart village' within EU legislation, there are a number of distinguishing features associated with the smart village concept, with the involvement of the local community and the use of digital tools being seen as core elements. The smart village concept also suggests the adoption of smart solutions in both the public and private sectors over a wide range of policy fields such as improving access to services, developing short food supply chains and developing renewable energy sources. The smart village concept is gaining traction on the rural development agenda, coinciding with the ongoing reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP). In December 2020, the Commission published its recommendations for each Member State on the direction their plans need to take to achieve the CAP objectives and the European Green Deal targets. The Commission's analysis highlight the gaps Member States must address if the Green Deal target of 100 % access to fast broadband internet in rural areas by 2025 is to be met. Much will depend on how Member States respond to these recommendations in drawing up their CAP strategic plans. The European Parliament has made a significant contribution to the smart village concept, taking part in a pilot project on smart eco-villages and supporting the European Commission's 2017 action plan for smarter villages. The European Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee have meanwhile both indicated their support for the concept through events, opinions and communications.
The analysis of EU development policies, past performance and the envisaged scope of reform, presented in this study point to a serious inconsistency between the declaration and implementation of relevant policies. Namely, the marginal role rural areas perform in common agricultural policy and cohesion policy; a result of the lack of a complex approach to rural development. The analysis was based on the concept of good governance and took a multi-level perspective. It advocates territorial justice as an approach that should be at the core of creating a comprehensive policy for rural areas in the EU, including their diversity and empowering local communities to choose the transition pathway that is most in line with their current situation and development capacity. This analysis fills a gap in research on the evolution of the rural development policy in the EU. This research can inform the reprioritization and intensification of efforts to create equitable policies for EU rural development.
Barbara Wieliczko et al, Energies 2021, 14, 5050
The paper approaches the rationality of rural development as community-led through a lens of Governmentality and Europeanisation to explore how the local alignment of actions and government rationalities are linked. The presented research outlines rural development discourse first in EU rural policy and then at the local level through an analysis of text data published by a local development association. The paper traces the linkage between the two institutional levels and establishes how the success of rural development is not only to constitute issues and themes in a particular form but also to have these embedded locally.
To speak about the framework of youth unemployment, there is a strong correlation between the economic performance of the state, the general unemployment rate, and the youth unemployment rate. The growing economic environment will have a positive effect on the unemployment rate in the short run, but it still tends to be the most important issue of states. Besides, policies might concentrate on developing the areas that will bring into the scale a high potential of employment growth. It is obvious, that to develop in the framework of unemployment and especially to concentrate on the youth generation of society, the country needs a full package of economic developments. Youth unemployment is directly linked to the general and broader development stages of the state. Another issue that we have not tackled so far is the unemployment of youth in rural areas.
Tamar Pkhakadze, Technium Social Sciences Journal, Vol. 26, Dec. 2021
In the first half of 2020, the European Committee of the Regions designed and launched a consultation on ‘Evaluation of the CAP impact on territorial development of rural areas’. Part 1 of this report summarises the results of the consultation which took the form of an online questionnaire and, overall, involved more than 200 stakeholders to different degrees. Conclusions and policy pointers for the future are drawn in Part 2.