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With over half of the population of the European Union living in rural areas that cover about 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 has therefore become an overall EU priority.  The conclusions of the Gothenburg Council (June 2001) made this very clear: “During recent years, European agricultural policy has given less emphasis to market mechanisms and, through targeted support measures, become more oriented towards satisfying the general public’s growing demands regarding food safety, food quality, product differentiation, animal welfare, environmental quality and the conservation of nature and the countryside.”

Following the fundamental reform of the first pillar of the common agricultural policy (CAP) in 2003 and 2004, the Agricultural Council (September 2005) adopted a fundamental reform of rural development policy for the period 2007 to 2013.

Reflecting the Salzburg conference conclusions (November 2003) and the strategic orientations of the Lisbon and Gothenburg European Councils emphasising the economic, environmental, and social elements of sustainability, the following three major objectives for RD policy were set for the period 2007-2013:

• Increasing the competitiveness of the agricultural sector;
• Enhancing the environment and countryside through support for land management;
• Enhancing the quality of life in rural areas and promoting diversification of economic activities.

This reform brings the Leader + Community Initiatives into mainstream programming and also means simplification by bringing rural development under a single funding and programming framework.

The current European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) in support of food processing, and rural diversification will become part of mainstream national activity. The respective regulation was adopted formally in September 2005, closely followed by the European Council reaching agreement on the draft Community Strategic Guidelines.

The new rules will see EAGGF replaced by a new fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), with the main aim of simplification.

Whereas the Guidance element of the EAGGF is currently used to finance rural development measures in Objective 1 Programmes, for 2007-2013 all rural development activities will be supported through the national rural development fund programmes. 

This change comes with two provisos:

1. Convergence areas will receive “reserved” (ring-fenced) funding equivalent to the allocation they would have received if the arrangements for 2000-2006 had continued.  This means around 13%-14% of the Convergence budget will be transferred to rural development for Convergence areas.
2. Member States are required to take into account “complementarity” between structural funds and rural development programmes (and fisheries) to ensure that where there are overlaps between the programmes in terms of support available, they are addressed to avoid duplication.

• Axis 1: Competitiveness of Farming and Forestry – 10% minimum allocation
• Axis 2: Environmental Land Management – 25% minimum allocation (EU figure)
• Axis 3: Quality of Life and Diversity of Rural Areas – 10% minimum allocation
• Axis 4: Leader (cross-cutting theme) – No minimum allocation, but   a minimum of 5% of the entire budget needs to be delivered by the Leader approach.

DEFRA is preparing a national strategy, which will cover the “four home nations”, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, whilst at the delivery stage they are proposing four separate rural development programmes. 

The English programme will be managed in two different way: on a national level, and solely for Axis 2 measures, it will be run by Natural England; and at a regional level, for Axes 1, 3 and Leader it will be run by the Regional Development Agencies. 

These proposals went to consultation (England only) in the first quarter of 2006, with a specific South West conference that took place on 8 March 2006 in Exeter. SWUKBO, GOSW, SWRDA and SW CoRE were involved in the preparations for this regional conference, whose results were fed into the DEFRA consultation.

The EU Forestry Strategy
http://ec.europa.eu/comm/agriculture/fore/forestry_strategy_en.htm

DG Agriculture & Environment
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/agriculture/index_en.htm

Natural England
http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/ruraldelivery/natural-england.htm

Government Office for the South West
http://www.gosw.gov.uk/gosw/

South West Regional Development Agency
http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/

Committee of the Regions
http://www.cor.europa.eu/en/index.htm