Brussels, 21/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 20 February EU agriculture ministers adopted the decision on the Community's strategic orientations for rural development (2007-13). This text will help Member States to prepare their national programmes expected to be adopted by the European Commission. On 22 November the Council reached a political agreement on this more political document (EUROPE 9074), which completes the regulation already adopted setting up the new European Agricultural Rural Development Funds (EARDF) 2007-13 (EUROPE 9030 and 8974). Strategic orientations provide a detailed explanation of the three areas of intervention in the new rural development programme (improvement in competitiveness in the agricultural and forestry sectors, improvement of the environment and landscape, as well as in the quality of life in the rural zones) and identify important areas for carrying out the Community's priorities, particularly the Gothenburg sustainable development objectives and the renewed Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs. They also indicate some of the basic principles: agriculture as a determining factor in the quality of the landscape and environment, the European agricultural model, which reflects the multifunctional role of agriculture in the wealth and diversity of the countryside, food products and cultural and natural heritage, as well as the importance of the CAP reforms of 2003 and 2004 etc.