EU Rural Development Policy: Economic Growth & Sustainability
EU Rural Development Policy: Fostering Growth and Sustainability
The European Union, through its rural development policy, provides structural funds for the most disadvantaged agricultural areas. The goal is to maintain the number of farmers and to conserve agricultural landscapes. The LEADER program also provides funds to help the regions worst affected by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to subsidize the creation of innovative activities, such as rural tourism.
Regional and Local Involvement
The autonomous communities are involved in rural land management through their land management responsibilities.
Local governments organize rural areas within their municipalities and promote measures to increase local potential and improve the quality of life.
Key Priorities for Rural Systems
a) Economic Development
- This is the main objective, as the retention of the rural population depends on jobs and improved economic prospects.
- Diversification of economic activity is intended to promote the industrial transformation of production and rural tourism.
- The craft or industrial processing of products in rural areas can increase their added value. This will promote agribusiness for food processing and handicrafts.
- Rural tourism offers many options, such as agritourism, children’s and youth tourism, ecological tourism, health tourism, cultural tourism, and adventure sports. Rural tourism has a positive effect by increasing the income generated by rural areas, improving infrastructure provision and community facilities, and encouraging housing rehabilitation.
- The modernization and upgrading of product quality to meet new demands are translated into actions such as the introduction of designations of origin and quality designations, which provide certain levels of demand in the development of agricultural products.
- The promotion of cooperatives for buying, selling, and processing products avoids over-reliance on the market and industry.
b) Improvement of Infrastructure and Quality of Life
- Requires improved accessibility for rural communities, seeking to provide basic infrastructure and public amenities, guaranteeing that no one is too far from the most basic services.
- Small towns scattered around the countryside play an important role in these strategies, serving as centers of population concentration.
c) Preservation of the Environment
- This is achieved with measures derived from the rural development policy of the European Union and the promotion of organic farming.
- The rural development policy of the European Union is funding measures for preserving the environment, the dedication of land for forestry, crop extensification, and the maintenance of the population and traditional activities.
- Organic farming only uses natural systems to produce without the use of chemicals. The drawbacks are its shorter duration and the fact that demand is still low because food is scarce.
- Food fraud and suspicion about genetically modified foods are promoting organic agriculture, which is the agricultural sector with the greatest expansion in the European Union.