The European Council approves the conclusions on the strategy of the “Long-term vision for rural areas” of the European Union

More support for rural areas

• Council calls on European Commission to translate vision into an EU rural strategy
• To this end, it calls for support for the digital transition, the development of infrastructure, the creation of a control instrument to evaluate EU funding in support of rural areas, new policies for generational change and better and greater participation of women in agriculture.

Since 20 November , rural areas have been politically recognised by the European Council as strategic areas at an economic and social level for the development of the European Union (EU), for two reasons:

• They promote prosperity, resilience and the social and cultural fabric of rural communities
• They are safeguards of agriculture and guarantors of food security, which are the basic pillars of the EU strategy for the autonomy of food systems.

For all these reasons, the European Council has approved some conclusions on the strategy of the “Long-term vision for rural areas” of the EU, a communication published by the European Commission (EC) in June 2021, which aims to achieve, by 2040, stronger, more connected, resilient and prosperous rural communities.

These findings recognise the complexity and challenges currently facing these areas.

• Aging of the population
• Gender disparity
• Lack of services and infrastructure

These conclusions should serve as political guidance for the EC and the Member States.

Proposals for the integrated approach

In light of this, the Council calls on the EC to turn the long-term vision into a fully-fledged EU rural strategy . How? With an integrated approach encompassing:

• The digital transition.
• Investment in new infrastructure.
• The creation of a control instrument to take EU rural funding beyond the CAP.
• Policies for generational change.
• Gender perspective in rural areas.

This approach is designed in cooperation with rural inhabitants and local and regional authorities, which is why the Council stresses the importance of Local Action Groups within the LEADER approach .

Actions

Some of the Council's proposals regarding each of the rural problems that need to be addressed are:

• The digital transition: referred to not only as the connectivity of these areas, but as the training and development of digital capabilities by their inhabitants.
• Infrastructure/Financing: The Council recognises this point as one of the most important when it comes to achieving a vision for the future. Therefore, in order to rationalise funding for investments in rural public services, it is proposed that a control instrument be created to support rural areas and to establish guarantee procedures between EU policies and instruments in service of this purpose.
• Generational change: the proposed solutions include facilitating young people's access to finance and land, providing them with various work and training opportunities and involving them in local management.
• Gender perspective : Support measures include the creation of new job opportunities and facilitation of management in supervisory bodies for women. The equal participation of women in agriculture is also a prominent objective in this section.

In order to realise these conclusions, the Council calls on the Commission to translate the vision into a full EU rural strategy, with a comprehensive and flexible approach and relevant indicators. In addition, Member States are encouraged to become more involved in the Rural Pact and to continue developing rural strategies at national, regional and local level.