Rural Development policy 2007-2013

Community Strategy guidelines for rural development 2007-2013

Since the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, Rural Development is playing an increasingly important role in helping rural areas to meet the challenges of the 21st century and in particular the improvement of their sustainability.

Member States are invited to prepare their national rural development plan on the basis of 6 strategic guidelines:

1. Improvement of the competitiveness of the agricultural and forestry sectors
2. Improvement of the environment and the countryside
3. Improvement of the quality of life in rural areas and encouragement of diversification
4. Building local capacity for employment and diversification
5. Translating priorities into programmes
6. Complementarity between community instruments

Rural development can contribute to the Kyoto protocol targets for climate change mitigation. Sustainable energy is a cross-cutting area within the new EAFRD 2007-2013. Indeed, Agriculture and forestry are at the forefront of the development of renewable energy and material sources for bioenergy installations. In addition, appropriate agricultural and forestry practices can contribute to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Last but not least, the development of the provision and innovative use of renewable energy sources must be strengthen as it can also constitute a mean of diversification for the rural economy.