On Wednesday 30 June, the European Commission unveiled a communication on the EU’s rural areas, which are currently facing “challenges posed by globalisation, urbanisation, [and] ageing”. This communication, detailed on Tuesday in our columns (see EUROPE 12751/13), takes stock of the situation and details the actions that the European institution intends to implement to meet these challenges.
Beyond the Common Agricultural Policy, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), cohesion policy, and related funds, the Commission’s room for manoeuvre in this area appears limited.
Unsurprisingly, one of the main measures to come will be the publication of a guide detailing the possibilities for rural areas to access EU funding and, more importantly, to combine these different funds.
One small innovation is also expected at the institutional level: a “rural observatory” will be created from 2022 within the Commission.
Better knowledge of the terrain
The main task of this body will be to “centralise and analyse” available economic, social, and demographic data on rural areas. A “rural data portal” should be set up to enable this centralisation at European level.
The Commission expects that the portal will also be fed with statistics from research activities focusing on the rural environment, which will be funded under the EU’s research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe.
“While the observatory’s scope will be rural, it will naturally contribute to the analysis of diverse territories (cross-border, outermost regions, mountains, islands, sparsely populated, etc.) to reflect the multiple dimensions of rural areas and their links with other territories”, the institution says.
The observatory will work in collaboration with Eurostat, with the EPSON research programme, dedicated to the knowledge of European territories, and with the Commission’s Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies.
Monitoring the action plan
Furthermore, the European Commission indicates, without going into detail, that the observatory will act as an information point “relevant EU initiatives for rural areas”.
The third and final task of the new body will also be to monitor the implementation and results of the action plan presented by the Commission.
A review will be carried out in mid-2023 on the actions, financed by the EU and the Member States, which will have been carried out in rural areas. In early 2024, the Commission will also publish a report identifying areas where increased funding and support will be needed.
To consult the communication: https://bit.ly/3Ag29Of; and the annex detailing the measures of the action plan: https://bit.ly/3hBObOz (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)