COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Taking stock of the implementation of the EU rural action plan (2021-2023) Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions The long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas: key achievements and ways forward
Date: 2024-03-27
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: EU action, EU regional policy, action programme, regional development, regional disparity, rural development, rural population, rural region, sustainable development, sustainable mobility

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 27.3.2024  SWD(2024) 450 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Taking stock of the implementation of the EU rural action plan (2021-2023)      Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions  The long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas: key achievements and ways forward {COM(2024) 450 final} - {SWD(2024) 451 final}  
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

Introduction ..................................................................................................... 3 

2.  Thematic actions .............................................................................................. 5 

2.1.  Stronger ................................................................................................ 5 

2.1.1.  Flagship: set up a rural revitalisation platform ........................ 5 

2.1.2.  Flagship: research and innovation for rural communities ....... 7 

2.1.3.  Networking for LEADER/ CLLD and smart villages ........... 13 

2.1.4.  Study on land use linked to sustainable farming ................... 16 

2.1.5.  Support  education, training,  youth,  sport and volunteering in 
rural areas .............................................................................. 17 

2.2.  Connected ........................................................................................... 19 

2.2.1.  Flagship: develop rural mobility ........................................... 19 

2.2.2.  Flagship: rural digital futures ................................................ 21 

2.2.3.  Support the roll-out of broadband in rural areas.................... 24 

2.2.4.  Promotion of digitalisation in the agricultural sector ............ 26 

2.2.5.  Highlight urban-rural linkages in the new EU urban mobility 
framework .............................................................................. 27 

2.2.6.  Accessibility of rural areas through the drone strategy 2.0. .. 28 

2.3.  Resilient .............................................................................................. 29 

2.3.1.  Flagship: support rural municipalities in energy transitions and 
fighting climate change ......................................................... 29 

2.3.2.  Flagship:  climate  action  in  peatland  through  carbon  farming
 ............................................................................................... 31 

2.3.3.  Flagship: the EU mission ‘A Soil deal for Europe’ ............... 33 

2.3.4.  Flagship: social resilience and women in rural areas ............ 35 

2.3.5.  Analyse spatial mobility in demographically declining areas in 
Europe .................................................................................... 38 

2.3.6.  Study  on  the  working  conditions  of  agricultural  seasonal 
workers .................................................................................. 39 

2.3.7. 

Inclusion and integration of people with a migrant background 
in rural areas .......................................................................... 40 

2.3.8.  Equal opportunities for children in rural areas ...................... 41 

2.3.9.  Address the needs of people with disabilities in rural areas .. 42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2.4.  Prosperous .......................................................................................... 43 

2.4.1.  Entrepreneurship and the social economy in rural areas ....... 43 

2.4.2.  Encouraging  Member  States  to  increase  education,  training 
and employment opportunities for young people in  rural  and 
remote  areas  under  the  Youth  guarantee  and  the  European 
Education Area ...................................................................... 45 

2.4.3.  Development of a sustainable bioeconomy, including the EU 
forest strategy and the carbon faming initiative .................... 48 

2.4.4.  Strengthen producer organisations of geographical indications
 ............................................................................................... 50 

2.5.  Horizontal actions .............................................................................. 51 

2.5.1.  Rural proofing ....................................................................... 51 

2.5.2.  Rural observatory .................................................................. 53 

2.5.3.  Enhancing availability of statistics on rural areas ................. 55 

2.5.4.  Defining functional rural areas .............................................. 60 

2.5.5.  Propose a rural pact ............................................................... 61 

2.5.6.  Rural funding toolkit ............................................................. 63 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Through  its  communication  'A  long-term  vision  for  the  EU’s  rural  areas  -  Towards 
stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural areas by 2040’ (LTVRA) adopted in 
June  2021 (1),  the  European  Commission  put  forward  an  EU  rural  action  plan  with 
flagship projects and tools contributing to achieve the shared goals of the rural vision, in 
synergy with support provided by EU-funded Member States programmes.  

With 30 actions spanning across a wide range of EU policies and topics of importance for 
the future of rural communities, it is an unprecedented joint effort from 14 Commission 
departments called ‘Directorates-General’ (DGs) (2) to work horizontally, in coordinated 
ways, to address rural challenges and make the most of opportunities. This cooperation 
enhances consideration of rural issues in various policy domains, including agriculture 
and  regional  development,  but  also  revitalisation,  research  and  innovation,  local 
development,  youth,  education  and  culture,  creative  industries,  digitalisation,  mobility, 
energy,  climate,  forestry,  bioeconomy,  social  inclusion,  gender  equality  and  economic 
development among other themes. 

(1)  COM(2021)345 final 

(2)  Agriculture  and  rural  development  (AGRI),  Climate  action  (CLIMA),  Communication,  networks, 
content  and  technology  (CNECT),  Education  and  culture  (EAC),  Energy  (ENER),  Employment  and 
social  affairs  (EMPL),  Eurostat  (ESTAT),  Internal  market,  industry,  entrepreneurship  and  SMEs 
(GROW),  Migration  and  home  affairs  (HOME),  Joint  research  centre  (JRC),  Justice  and  consumers 
(JUST),  Mobility  and  transport  (MOVE),  Regional  and  urban  policy  (REGIO)  and  Research  and 
innovation (RTD). 

3 

 
 
 
The action plan is organised in two parts: 

− 

thematic actions structured against the four action areas of the vision (stronger, 
connected,  resilient,  prosperous),  including  nine  flagship  initiatives  and  15 
accompanying actions; and 

−  cross-cutting actions that support the implementation of the action plan and aim 

at improving governance for rural areas. 

This Commission staff working document (SWD) aims to inform on the key achievements 
under each of the actions, their expected benefits for rural communities and the next steps 
envisaged,  complementing  the  overview  provided  in  the  report  on  the  LTVRA  key 
achievements and ways forward (3). It follows the structure of the action plan adopted in 
2021. A second accompanying SWD ‘Reviewed EU rural action plan’ (SWD(2024)451) 
provides  an  amended  version  of  the  initial  action  plan  annexed  to  the  LTVRA 
communication, indicating the status of each action and adapting the formulation of some 
actions and reordering them where relevant. 

The Commission has invested in implementing all 30 actions. Implementation is ongoing 
for 21 actions. It is continuing beyond the completion of tasks initially foreseen for seven 
actions. Two actions are considered completed. For a limited number of actions, plans have 
had to be reviewed after reassessing their feasibility and relevance. Finally, for a few sub-
actions that depend on the use of EU funds under shared management, it is too soon to 
report on the execution of programmes by the Member States as many of those have only 
just started. The Commission maintains its commitment to the development of rural areas 
and communities. It plans to keep implementing the EU rural action plan to achieve the 
objectives of the actions as described in the reviewed version. A further update may be 
considered from 2025 onwards. 

(3)  COM(2024)450 

4 

 
 
 
2.  THEMATIC ACTIONS 

2.1.  Stronger 

2.1.1.  Flagship: set up a rural revitalisation platform 

Key deliverables 

The  rural  revitalisation  platform  is  an  online  platform  that  assembles,  in  one  place, 
information and resources useful for rural communities facing demographic decline, 
and that provides them with tools to collaborate. To set up this platform, the Commission 
has: 

- 

asked  the  European  Network  for  Rural  Development  to  facilitate,  in  the  first 
semester of 2022, a thematic group on rural revitalisation which listed enabling 
factors  for  rural  revitalisation,  developed  a  self-assessment  tool  to  assess  the 
level of these factors, and made recommendations3 on how to structure the future 
platform; 

-  held  a  session  at  the  rural  pact  conference  on  15  June  20224  to  discuss  the 

outcomes of the group with the stakeholder community; 

-  published  a  webpage  in  December  2022  and  steered  the  development  of  the 
collaborative platform by contractors, including interviews with users, in the first 
semester of 2023; 

- 

- 

launched the platform at the Rural pact policy lab “taking action to tackle rural 
depopulation” gathering 100 people in Brussels on 29 June 2023; 

continued until now improving the tool with the release of additional features (good 
practices database, publications database, etc.) and improved the user-friendliness 
of the interface. 

Considering the needs of the wider  rural  pact  community for a collaborative space, the 
platform  has  been  built  as  a  sub-part  of  the  rural  pact  community  platform  (see  2.5.5), 
accessible  by  choosing  the  focus  “revitalisation”  (around  75%  of  the  content  of  the 
platform  is  relevant  for  that  focus).  On  the  platform,  users  can  access  information  on 
events, good practices and projects, create and/or join self-moderated ‘Community groups’ 
on specific subjects, post and share their own news and events, in any EU language. The 
platform is populated with good practices (30 so far) produced by the Rural Pact Support 
Office and links to relevant websites and databases and resources such as publications 
of relevant organisations or projects. Other rural vision tools such as the rural observatory 
(see 2.5.2) or the rural funding toolkit (see 2.5.6) complement this platform. 

Online collaboration has been complemented with in-person exchanges by dedicating one 
of the rural pact policy labs to tackling depopulation, with 100 participants working in or 
for communities facing depopulation exchanging in participatory sessions. The High-level 
rural  policy  forum  ‘Shaping  the  future  of  rural  areas’8,  which  was  organised  in 
Sigüenza on 27-29 September 2023, in the Spanish region of Castilla-La-Mancha, a hot 
spot of depopulation, also contributed to fruitful exchanges, including through the study 
visits  organised  by  the  local  LEADER  network,  RECAMDER,  allowing  to  see  useful 
projects that can be conducted to revitalise depopulated rural areas.  

5 

 
 
Benefits for rural areas 

The rural revitalisation platform: 

- 

eases access of people acting for rural areas affected by demographic and economic 
decline  to  information,  best  practices  and  tools  that  were  scattered  in  different 
places; 
- 
allows them to exchange with their peers on useful or innovative approaches; 
-  provides them with a free tool through which they can create community groups 
dedicated to specific themes, countries or regions, in English or in their national 
language, while connecting to other actors; and 

-  provides  access  to  information  in  all  EU  languages  through  automated 

translation.  

Since the launch in June 2023, the rural revitalisation platform has attracted over 12 000 
visitors, of which 560 registered as members, which we consider as a good result for only 
nine months of operation. All these visits generated 60 000 page views, for a total of 4 900 
downloads. The seven existing community groups initiated 30 different discussions. 

Next steps 

Challenges faced in the creation of the platform have shown the importance of coupling 
the  online  tool  with  activities  organised  in  person  and  allowing  face-to-face 
exchanges. They have also highlighted the need for efficient tools that are well adapted to 
stakeholders’  skills  and  availability.  We  will  keep  improving  the  user  journey  and 
interface with new functionalities and enriching the content of the resource section in 
2024  and  2025.  The  success  of  the  platform  requires  a  sustained  effort  in  facilitating 
exchanges and keeping  enriching  it with useful  practices and projects  coming from  the 
Commission or from the Rural Pact Support Office and from the users. 

The platform has been in use for only nine months, and it is too early to say which evolution 
will be needed. However, it seems relevant to explore possibilities to enhance cooperation 
for municipalities most in need via in-person exchanges organised through the rural pact 
or other networking initiatives, and to increase the visibility of the tool thanks to targeted 
promotion.  Embedding  the  rural  revitalisation  platform  in  the  rural  pact  community 
platform is conducive to synergies in this respect. 

Screenshots of the rural pact community platform 

6 

 
 
      
 
2.1.2.  Flagship: research and innovation for rural communities 

Key deliverables 

Horizon Europe 

Between 2021 and 2024, several actions were launched under 
the  Horizon  Europe  work  programmes  (WP)  2021-2022  and 
2023-2024 to implement the flagship ‘Research and innovation 
for rural communities’. Close to 30 topics (calls for proposals) 
with  a  direct  impact  on  rural  areas  beyond  farming  were 
programmed  under  Horizon  Europe’s  Pillar  II,  in  clusters  2 
(Culture,  creativity  and  inclusive  society),  5  (Climate,  energy 
and  mobility),  and  6  (Food,  bioeconomy,  natural  resources, 
agriculture and environment). The allocation of topics, budget 
and projects was divided as follows among these three clusters, 
representing  a  total  of  over  60  projects  for  a  budget  of 
EUR 253 million contributing directly to rural areas. 

60 

projects for 
a budget of 
EUR 253
million 

Cluster  2  (Culture,  creativity  and  inclusive  society):  the  2021-22  calls  included  five 
relevant topics. These led to nine projects with a total budget of almost EUR 27 million 
which  have  relevant  research  on  rural  areas  looking  particularly  at  rural  development, 
sustainability,  and  reducing  regional  inequalities.  These  projects  focus  on  unlocking 
innovation in cultural and creative industries in non-urban areas, while addressing factors 
causing  territorial  inequalities.  The  projects  identify  effective  policies  at  different 
governance levels to combat urban and rural decline, emphasising sustainability. They seek 
innovative approaches for rural areas to cope with global value chain shifts and reap their 
benefits. In the 2023-24 calls, seven additional topics, with a budget of EUR 58 million, 
are  expected  to  fund  20  projects  with  relevant  research  on  rural  socioeconomic 
development. Research will focus on fostering socioeconomic development in rural areas 
through  cultural  tourism,  will  address  rural  youth  discontent  in  politics,  by  exploring 
social, cultural, and political identities, and will examine the impact of remote working on 
different  regions.  The  projects  will  also  aim  to  tackle  inequalities  in  green  and  digital 
transitions,  including  in  rural  areas,  as  well  as  inequalities  in  STEAM  education 
emphasising the participation of girls from socially disadvantaged and rural backgrounds. 

Cluster 5 (Climate, energy and mobility): the 2021-22 calls included one relevant topic, 
with  a  budget  of  EUR 15 million,  leading  to  two  projects  addressing  environmental 
challenges,  promoting  sustainable  practices,  and  creating  economic  opportunities, 
improving the overall well-being and resilience of rural communities. In the 2023-24 calls, 
a topic of EUR 10 million will focus on better infrastructure safety on urban and secondary 
rural roads through a combination of adaptable monitoring and maintenance solutions. 

Cluster 6 (Food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment): the 
2021-22 calls included seven topics, with a budget of  EUR 83 million. These led to 15 
projects on strengthening evidence for tailored rural policies, capacity building for rural 
innovation, smart XG, last-mile and edge solutions for remote farming, forestry and rural 
areas,  boosting  women-led  innovation  in  agriculture  and  rural  areas,  assessing  and 
improving labour conditions and health and safety at work in farming, empowering rural 
communities and smart villages to innovate for societal change, and assessing the socio-
politics of nature-based solutions for more inclusive and resilient communities. The 2023-
24  calls  included  eight  topics,  with  a  budget  of  approximately  EUR 60 million.  These 
should lead to fund 15 projects that will work on enhancing social inclusion in rural areas, 

7 

 
territorial governance, societal perceptions and benefits of rural life and jobs, innovations 
for  climate-neutral  rural  communities,  new  business  and  production  models,  circular 
bioeconomy start-up villages and the revitalisation of European local (rural / peri-urban) 
communities with innovative bio-based business models and social innovation.  

In addition, several other topics and related projects funded under these three clusters, as 
well as Cluster 3 (Civil security for society) and Cluster 4 (Digital, industry and space) 
also have an indirect impact on rural areas. These include calls related to agriculture and 
forestry,  circular  economy  and  the  bioeconomy  sectors,  development  of  bio-based 
alternatives like biopesticides, biofertilizers, and biodegradable polymers aiming to reduce 
environmental pollution and encourage cleaner farming, and innovative governance and 
digital solutions, for instance. Digital actions under Cluster 4 and the Mission ‘A Soil Deal 
for  Europe’  under  Cluster  6  also  contribute  to  the  implementation  of  this  flagship,  but 
activities  are  reported  respectively  under  the  ‘Connected’  (see  2.2.2  and  2.2.4)  and 
‘Resilient’ action areas (see 2.3.3). 

Research and innovation for rural communities was in focus in two major events: 

−  The Rural pact conference (June 2022), with a session on ‘Rural research 

and innovation ecosystems’. 

−  The  AgriResearch  Conference  2023,  with  a  session  on 

‘Rural 

opportunities’.  

A factsheet on rural research and innovation was published in May 2023 which provides a 
list of relevant research and innovation projects from Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. 

Startup Village Forum 

The Startup Village Forum (SVF) initiative was launched in November 2021 with a high-
level virtual meeting, focusing on rural innovation ecosystems, startup creation, and the 
role  of  innovation  in  rural  development.  Several  meetings  and  events  were  held  with 
villages,  local  authorities,  and  entrepreneurs  to  understand  how  innovation  can  address 
challenges in rural areas. The team coordinating the SVF initiative at the Joint Research 
Centre of the European Commission has also collaborated closely with other Commission 
services and developed a conceptualisation paper on startup villages. The second annual 
SVF took place on 28 February 2023. Additionally, the SVF launched a mapping tool to 
assess  enabling  factors  for  innovation  and  entrepreneurship,  the  economic  structure  of 
villages,  their innovative performance  and the level  of connectedness  and collaboration 
between the main players of their innovation ecosystems.  

Other initiatives supporting networking for innovation 

Aside from the activities above foreseen in the action plan, other activities support rural 
innovation. The European Innovation Partnership for agricultural productivity and 
sustainability  has  supported  rural  innovation  through  its  main  building  block  EIP 
Operational Groups – bottom-up innovative projects. In December 2023, 3 400 operational 
group projects had been reported in the Commission’s database. Under the scope of the 
EU CAP Network several activities have supported innovation in rural areas, in particular 
the following ones can be highlighted: 

-  Workshop  on  Young  entrepreneurs  -  Engines  of  innovation  in  rural  areas 

(November/December 2022); 

-  Focus Group ‘Social farming and innovations’(Final report November 2023); 
-  Focus Group competitive and resilient mountain areas (ongoing). 

8 

 
Benefits for rural areas 

The projects funded under Horizon Europe foster knowledge creation and exchange, and 
they  engage  rural  stakeholders  directly  thanks  to  the  ‘multi-actor  approach’,  building 
bridges between research and practice. The projects aim to foster sustainable development 
and regeneration, stimulate innovation, empower rural communities for change and reduce 
inequalities.  They  contribute  to  Horizon  Europe’s  Strategic  Plan  2021-2024  expected 
impact 31, namely that “Rural, coastal, and urban areas are developed in a sustainable, 
balanced and inclusive manner thanks to a better understanding of the environmental, 
behavioural, socio-economic and demographic drivers of change as well as deployment 
of digital, social and community-led innovations”. 

More  specifically,  the  impacts  of  projects  targeting  rural  areas  and  communities  are 
expected across multiple domains. Firstly, they will leverage analyses of global changes, 
supply  chain  dynamics,  and  digitalisation  to  identify  and  create  employment 
opportunities in rural areas, fostering social inclusion and bridging the urban-rural 
divide. Secondly, addressing inequalities in 'left-behind' areas, they will conduct thorough 
analyses  to  identify  drivers  of  inequality  and  develop  place-based  strategies  to 
counteract  socioeconomic  stagnation  or  decline.  Thirdly,  they  aim  to  enhance  the 
innovation capacities of cultural and creative industries in non-urban EU areas and 
to  contribute to  protect  cultural  heritage and landscapes in  rural  areas.  Moreover, the 
Horizon  Europe  projects  collectively  provide  better  evidence  for  tailored  policies, 
emphasise the benefits of rural areas and communities for the whole society, support 
an  inclusive  green  and  digital  transition  of  rural  areas,  and  enhance  the  overall 
resilience, preparedness, and response to disasters and climate change in rural areas. 
Finally,  projects  with  a  focus  on  agriculture  and  forestry  are  contributing  to  rural 
development through sectorial research and innovation (see factsheets). 

The  Startup  Village  Forum  allows  rural  villages  and  stakeholders  to  meet  peers  and 
other relevant actors to exchange experiences and learn from each other. For instance, 
the second Startup Village Forum was attended by over 700 participants, while over 20 
villages participated in the Startup Village mapping tool. 

9 

 
  
 
Next steps 

Horizon Europe projects relevant to rural areas have been front-loaded in the first work 
programmes of Horizon Europe so that their results can support the next policy cycle. 
The  Commission  is  now  working  to  identify  the  needs  to  address  in  the  preparation  of 
Horizon Europe work programme 2025 and beyond and will continue to support actions 
benefitting rural areas. To enhance the monitoring of future actions and  keep the rural 
community’s perspective in the relevant topics, it is recommended to: 

−  explicitly link the topic text to the long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas if 

the topic is intended to have a rural focus; 

−  keep  the  multi-actor  requirement  when  relevant,  which  is  important  for  rural 

− 

communities to benefit directly from the projects and not only indirectly; 
reflect  on  possibly  recommending  links  with  the  Rural  pact  community 
platform. 

Concerning  the  Startup  Village  Forum,  more  research  is  necessary  to  improve  our 
understanding of how innovative enterprises emerge and successfully grow in rural areas. 
In 2024, further work will be conducted to generate new metrics and statistics capturing 
rural  innovation  and  to  develop  solid  evidence  on  innovative  enterprises  in  EU  rural 
territories, by mapping their geographical distribution and analysing their determinants. A 
new edition of the forum is planned to take place at the end of 2024. 

10 

 
 
Horizon Europe projects on rural areas and rural communities* 

Project acronym 

Project title 

CORDIS Factsheet 

Cluster 2: “Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society 

ReSChape 

REshaping Supply CHAins for Positive social impact 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101061729 

TWIN SEEDS 

Towards a World Integrated and Socio-economically Balanced 
European Economic Development Scenario 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101056793 

RETHINK-GSC 

Rethinking Global Supply Chains: measurement, impact and 
policy 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101061123 

EXIT 

Exploring sustainable strategies to counteract territorial 
inequalities from an intersectional approach  

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101061122 

Maplneq 

Mapping inequalities through the life course 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101061645 

IN SITU 

MOBI-TWIN   

Re-Place 

Place-based innovation of cultural and creative industries in 
non-urban areas 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101061747 

Twin transition and changing patterns of spatial mobility: a 
regional approach 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101094402 

Reframing non-metropolitan left behind places through 
mobility and alternative development  

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101094087 

PREMIUM_EU 

Policy REcommendations to Maximise the beneficial Impact of 
Unexplored Mobilities in and beyond the European Union 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101094345 

Cluster 5: “Climate, Energy and Mobility” 

PYRAGRAF 

Decentralized pyrolytic conversion of agriculture and forestry 
wastes towards local circular value chains and sustainability 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101114608 

VALUE4FARM 

Sustainable renewable energy VALUE chains for answering 
FARMers’ needs 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101116076 

ECOLOOP 

Ecoloop 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101118127 

Cluster 6 “Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment” 

GRANULAR 

RUSTIK 

RURALITIES 

XGain 

COMMECT 

Giving Rural Actors Novel data and re-Useable tools to Lead 
public Action in Rural areas 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101061068 

Rural Sustainability Transitions through Integration of 
Knowledge for improved policy processes 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101061051 

Climate smart, ecosystem-enhancing and knowledge-based 
rural expertise and training centres 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101060876 

Enhancing Competitiveness, Resilience and Sustainability of 
Remote Farming, Forestry and Rural Areas through Holistic 
Assessment of Smart XG, Last-mile and Edge Solutions’ Gains 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101060294 

Bridging the digital divide and addressing the need of Rural 
Communities with Cost-effective and Environmental-Friendly 
Connectivity Solutions 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101060881 

FLIARA 

FLIARA: Female-Led Innovation in Agriculture and Rural 
Areas 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101084234 

Grass Ceiling 

Gender Equality in Rural and Agricultural Innovation SystemS 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101083408 

SWIFT 

SafeHabitus 

Supporting Women-led Innovations in Farming and rural 
Territories 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101084561 

Strengthening farm health and safety knowledge and 
innovation systems 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101084270 

11 

 
FUTURAL 

Empowering the future through innovative smart solutions for 
rural areas. 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101083958 

RURACTIVE 

Empowering rural communities to act for change 

SMART ERA 

SMART community-led transition for Europe's Rural Areas 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101084377 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101084160 

TRANS-Lighthouses  More than green - Lighthouses of transformative nature-based 
solutions for inclusive communities 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101084628 

COEVOLVERS 

Coevolutionary approach to unlock the transformative potential 
of nature-based solutions for more inclusive and resilient 
communities 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101084220 

NATURESCAPES 

Naturescapes: nature-based solutions for climate resilient, 
nature positive and socially just communities in diverse 
landscapes  

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101084341 

ESIRA 

Enhancing Social Innovation in Rural Areas 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101136253 

SERIGO 

RURBANIVE 

PoliRuralPlus 

Social Economy for Resilience, Inclusion and Good life in 
Rural areas 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101136899 

Rural-urban synergies emerged in an immersive innovation 
ecosystem 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101136597 

Fostering Sustainable, Balanced, Equitable, Place-based and 
Inclusive Development of Rural-Urban Communities' Using 
Specific Spatial Enhanced Attractivenes Mapping ToolBox 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101136910 

RIBES 

Regional Inclusive Biobased Entrepeneurship Solutions 

https://cordis.europa.eu/projec
t/id/101134911 

* This table includes projects for which grant agreements have already been signed. 

12 

 
 
 
 
2.1.3.  Networking for LEADER/ CLLD and smart villages 

Key deliverables 

To enhance networking for the current 2 800 LEADER Local Action Groups (LAGs) 
across all Member States, the Commission, via the support of the EU CAP Network, has 
provided the wide range of activities below. 

-  Several dedicated capacity building events (2021 to 2023), in different formats – 
workshops, thematic groups, seminars, including project visits of selected LAGs. 
Relevant  topics  linked  to  LEADER  implementation  included,  among  others: 
simplified  cost  options;  seven  LEADER  principles;  multi-funded  CLLD,  added 
value of LEADER (4), evaluation of how to assess LEADER added value. 

-  A wide range of other events organised by the EU CAP Network and the Rural 
Pact Support Office such as those on gender, youth, depopulation, to mention a 
few, which LAGs and other LEADER stakeholders also attended. 

-  An EU CAP Network governance body dedicated to LEADER: the subgroup 

on LEADER and territorial development (5) (first meeting in April 2023). 

-  Gathering  and  dissemination  –  through  the  EU  CAP  network  website  and 
monthly  newsletters  -  of  best  practices  and  inspiring  projects  in  the  areas  of 
circular  economy,  mobility,  rural  depopulation,  among  other  topics  from 
agriculture and rural development; while also showcasing the EU CAP Network's 
latest publications and upcoming events not to be missed. 

-  A  quarterly  LEADER  newsletter  rounding-up  the  main  LEADER-related 
activities facilitated by the EU CAP Network and its national partners, as well as 
inspiring  LEADER  stories  from  the  ground  (in  three  languages),  adding  to  the 
monthly EU CAP network newsletter which also spreads LEADER-related good 
practices. 

-  Facilitation of contacts for transnational cooperation (TNC); 
-  A LAGs database to get in touch, network and cooperate with each other. The new 
LAGs  directory  listing  LAGs  selected  under  CAP  strategic  plans  is  under 
construction and will be ready in April 2024. 

To  enhance  networking  for  smart  villages,  the  Commission,  at  the  initiative  of  the 
European Parliament, has supported two preparatory actions on Smart Rural Areas in the 
21st  Century:  ‘Smart  Rural  21’  (2020-2022)  &  ‘Smart  Rural  27’  (2021-2023).  Key 
deliverables of these initiatives are included below. 

-  A guidebook (6) on ‘How to become a Smart Village’. 
-  An online platform (www.smartrural21.eu) to inform participating villages; 
-  Online tools, such as the smart solutions database (7) and the roadmap toolbox (8), 
which provide rural communities with practical ideas, methods and approaches for 
designing and implementing smart village strategies and solutions; 

-  The publication of main findings and conclusions of the Smart Rural 21 project, 
which  focus  on:  usefulness  to  set  up  smart  village  strategies,  needs  for  further 

(4) https://eu-cap-network.ec.europa.eu/assessing-added-value-leader_en;  

(5) https://eu-cap-network.ec.europa.eu/subgroup-leader-and-territorial-development_en  

(6) https://www.smartrural21.eu/guidebook/  

(7) https://www.smartrural21.eu/smart-solutions/  

(8) https://www.smartrural21.eu/roadmap/  

13 

 
 
capacity  building  for  rural  communities  and  policy  makers,  technical  support 
required  for  launching  smart  projects,  collaboration  among  rural  communities 
through  networking  activities,  full  development  of  the  future  policy  framework, 
and  commitment  of  Member  States  and  regions  to  take  more  actions  to  support 
local communities to become Smart Villages (9); 

-  The  Smart  Rural  27  project  online  platform  (www.smartrural27.eu),  which 
includes  a  geomapping  tool  presenting  smart  rural  communities  in  the  EU  who 
have smart village strategies and at least one smart solution; 

-  A pilot European smart villages observatory (10) with three main components; 

- 

two  knowledge  clusters  of  smart  rural  communities  aiming  to  support 
exchange  of  practices  and  capacity-building  among  rural  communities 
interested  and  acting  in  the  same  thematic  areas:  one  on  renewable  energy 
communities and one on digital services; 

-  The  national  and  regional  smart  villages  taskforces  aiming  to  improve 
policy 
through  practical  exchanges  among  diverse 
stakeholders  within  a  given  national/regional  context.  These  taskforces  are 
country-specific and run in national languages. 

implementation 

-  The  European  smart  villages  stakeholder  platform  aiming  to  create 
exchange on smart villages implementation among stakeholders with similar 
responsibilities  across  Member  States  such  as  LEADER  LAGs,  Managing 
Authorities  of  the  common  agricultural  policy,  European  and  national 
networks. 

The  Commission  also  supported  the  implementation  of  CLLD  in  fisheries  and 
aquaculture  areas,  targeting  Fisheries  LAGs  and  managing  authorities  (MAs)  of  the 
European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and the European Maritime, Fisheries and 
Aquaculture  Fund  (EMFAF)  and  National  Networks.  Fisheries  LAGs  exchanged 
experience via transnational seminars, cooperation projects and good practices. 

Benefits for rural areas 

Networking  for  LEADER  helped  improving  its  delivery. 
Examples are provided below. 

for  LEADER 

-  The workshop on simplified cost options resulted in 
these now being used to some extent in almost all 
interventions, 
Member  States 
resulting in less bureaucracy for LAGs and more 
resources for animation and capacity building.  
-  The  work  on  the  added  value  of  LEADER  has 
helped  to  build  a  deeper  understanding  on 
intangible  contributions  of  LEADER,  especially 
on 
local 
the  creation  of  social  capital  and 
governance.  

149 

rural 
communities 
guided to 
create smart 
villages 

-  Exchanges of insights on younger, smarter and simpler LEADER should improve 
the quality of local development strategies and their implementation in Europe, 
to the benefit of rural populations covered by the LEADER programme (65% of 
rural population in 2023-2027). 

(9)  European  Commission,  Directorate-General  for  Agriculture  and  Rural  Development,  Ocsko, 
E., Preparatory action – Smart rural areas in the 21st century – Final report, Publications Office of the 
European Union, 2023, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2762/493890 

(10) https://www.smartrural27.eu/european-smart-villages-observatory/  

14 

 
 
Networking  for  smart villages  helped to  empower rural  communities to use this  still 
new approach. Around 1 200 participants and 149 rural communities have benefited from 
Smart  rural  21  activities,  including  more  than  120  who  attended  the  successful  final 
conference of SmartRural21 on 17 and 18 October 2022 in Sopot-Gdansk (Poland) (11). 
The guidebook and resources provide actors involved in developing these strategies with 
a step-by-step approach to favour success. Tools for policymakers are also key to build 
confidence of managing authorities in this approach. More indicators on social capital 
and the quality of local governance in rural areas can be expected for both LEADER and 
smart villages as the work makes progress. 

The support provided to CLLD in fisheries and aquaculture areas helped MAs in designing 
efficient delivery systems and led to  many  innovative methods and practices on the 
ground. In many remote or rural areas, fisheries CLLD was able to reach out to actors who 
previously had very limited access to EU funding, e.g. small aquaculture producers. 

Next steps 

The majority of local development strategies had been selected by the end of 2023 and the 
rest should be selected in 2024. It is important to get in contact with the LEADER/CLLD 
new national networks and LAGs selected for 2023-27 to best respond to their demands. 
Smart  villages  have  been  proposed  in  most  CAP  strategic  plans,  in  many  cases  under 
LEADER, and in few cases outside. 

The EU CAP network will continue working on LEADER. It will look and highlight good 
projects especially around social, digital, and environmental transitions in rural areas both 
in  the  project  database  and  in  newsletters.  A  LAGs  Directory  for  2023-2027  will  be 
developed  in  the  first  quarter  of  2024  which  should  help  LAGs  to  find  partners  for 
cooperation  projects  and  exchanges.  Planned  for  June  2024,  a  Young  LEADER  Forum 
should gather about 200 young people to search for and exchange inspirational ideas how 
to involve even more youth in planning and implementing local development strategies. 

The  Commission  will  explore  possibilities  to  keep  supporting  networking  for  rural 
communities  working  on  smart  village  strategies  and  projects  by  listing  concrete 
actions  to  be  implemented  after  the  completion  of  the  Smart  Rural  27  project.  A 
community group on smart villages (12) has been created in June 2023 under the rural pact 
community platform, which can be one place for interaction after the end of the project. 

Within the Smart Village 27 project, a report, based on the analysis of CAP strategic plans 
and  other  programmes,  presenting  possible  gaps  and  ways  to  improve  the  EU  legal 
framework to  achieve  a  comprehensive  and consistent  support for rural  communities is 
planned to  be published  in  2024. The report  will be complemented by  Member States 
factsheets in both English and national languages, with specific information about the 
implementation of smart villages in each Member State. Another report is expected to be 
finalised by summer 2024 on smart villages contribution to the European Green Deal, Farm 
to Fork and Biodiversity strategies. 

The Commission will keep supporting CLLD in aquaculture and fisheries during 2021-
2027, and possible approaches are already being considered for post-2027. 

(11)  Smart  Rural  21,  Final  event  of 

the  Smart  Rural  21  project  summary  report,  2022, 

https://www.smartrural21.eu/wp-content/uploads/SR21_Final-Conference-Report.pdf  

(12)https://ruralpact.rural-vision.europa.eu/groups/community-group-smart-villages_en   

15 

 
 
 
2.1.4.  Study on land use linked to sustainable farming 

Key deliverables 

In September 2023, the Commission launched a study on land use linked to sustainable 
farming, as part of the “stronger rural areas” block of actions in the Communication on the 
long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas. The study aims to support rural communities to 
develop integrated policy solutions that are tailored to their local areas. 

In March 2024, the first two interim reports were delivered and provide information on the 
agricultural landscape evolution since 1990 and land use changes in rural areas triggered 
by renewable energy demands in EU-27. This analysis was based on literature review and 
the data available. 

Benefits for rural areas 

The overall aim of the study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the main impacts 
of  sectoral  developments  (agricultural,  forestry,  energy,  protection  of  natural  areas, 
protection of water, urban sprawl and infrastructure, climate action, mining, consumption 
patterns etc.) on land use in the EU’s rural areas and to identify recommendations for 
optimal land use, in particular to promote sustainable farming in light of other demands on 
land.  

The  study  draws  conclusions  and  recommends  novel,  clear  and  practical  policy 
measures that could be implemented to promote the transition to more sustainable land 
use in rural areas, especially in the field of land use planning and zoning. 

Next steps 

The final report on the study will be submitted by the end of October 2024, and the main 
findings and recommendations of the study could be used as part of the work on the next 
common agricultural policy. 

16 

 
 
 
2.1.5.  Support education, training, youth, sport and 

volunteering in rural areas 

Key deliverables 

Under  the  EU  youth  strategy  2019-2027,  following  a  participatory  approach,  the 
Commission works to implement the 11 European Youth Goals in its youth policy. Goal 
#6 ‘Moving rural youth forward’ aims at supporting opportunities for young people in 
rural areas.  

For  Erasmus+  and  the  European  Solidarity  Corps  the  Commission  has  set  up  a 
framework of inclusion measures to better reach out to a wider number of people with 
fewer opportunities (13), among others rural residents that face geographical barriers to 
participation. The programmes also include mechanisms to prioritise quality projects 
involving participants with fewer opportunities and addressing the themes of inclusion 
and  diversity.  The  National  Agencies  translate  the  EU  general  measures  into  specific 
actions  on  the  ground  and  the  Commission  provides  practical  guidance  on  how  to 
implement the measures under the ‘Inclusion and diversity strategy’.  

1200  
activities 
contributed to 
the European 
Youth 
Goal #6 

Moving rural youth 
forward 

Under  the  umbrella  of  the  European  Year  of  Youth 
2022 (EYY), different activities have been conducted for 
rural areas: 

-  Around 1 200 activities contributed to the European 
Youth Goal #6: Moving rural youth forward, meaning 
nine per cent of the 12 977 activities implemented for the 
EYY were specifically for rural youth.  

-  Two  of  the  EYY  2022  policy  dialogues  were 
connected  to  rural  youth:  the  policy  dialogue  with 
Commissioner  Janusz  Wojciechowski:  "Young  people 
in  agriculture  and  rural  areas"  and  the  policy  dialogue 
with  Commissioner  Elisa  Ferreira:  "Addressing  brain 
drain: retaining and attracting talents in EU regions"  

The  ‘EU-CoE  Youth  Partnership’  is  the  body  in  charge  of  monitoring  the 
implementation  of  youth  strategies  for  the  European  Commission  and  the  Council  of 
Europe. There is a priority topic for research and reporting on “young people in rural areas” 
under which studies, research, policy papers and reports from events on issues connected 
to rural youth are presented. 

In 2021, the Youth Partnership presented the study “Young people in rural areas: diverse, 
ignored and unfulfilled”. The new work plan 2024-2025 of the EU-CoE Youth Partnership 
foresees a new study on “Opportunities for young people living in rural and remote 
areas in the EU in terms of non-formal learning, active citizenship and participation”.  

(13)  ‘young  people  with  fewer  opportunities’  means  young  people  who,  for  economic,  social,  cultural, 
geographical or health reasons, due to their migrant background, or for reasons such as a disability or 
educational difficulties or for any other reason, including a reason that could give rise to discrimination 
under  Article  21  of  the  Charter,  face  obstacles  that  prevent  them  from  having  effective  access  to 
opportunities under the Programme. 

17 

 
 
 
 
Benefits for rural areas 

The  inclusion  measures  provide  opportunities  for  specific  financial  support  for  rural 
people facing geographical barriers and in need of additional support, personalised 
accompanying measures, more flexible formats, etc. The activities mentioned above are 
aiming to support education, training, youth, sport and volunteering activities in rural areas. 
They  can  increase  the  participation  of  rural  young  people  in  the  Erasmus+  and 
European Solidarity Corps programmes. The measures are meant to empower young 
people with the knowledge, skills and attitudes - including leadership skills - they need for 
employment, social integration and active citizenship.  

The stream of work ‘young people is rural areas’ under EU-CoE youth partnership favours 
knowledge  production  and  dissemination  as  well  as  specific  policy  attention  to  issues 
connected to rural youth.  

Next steps 

The  inclusion  measures  under  Erasmus  +  and  the  European  Solidarity  Corps  are 
monitored  at  national  and  EU  level.  The  programmes  are  implemented  in  indirect 
management  mode,  allowing  sufficient  flexibility  to  collect  feedback  and  implement 
changes in the programmes on an annual basis. The results of the mid-term evaluations 
will be examined to further improve the measures targeting inclusion. 

The study on “opportunities for youth”, which is part of the legacy of the EYY, will be 
published in the course of summer 2024. The study will focus on the social conditions of 
young people in rural and remote areas, the issue of youth participation, the access 
to  information  and  the  need  for  changes  to  encourage  their  engagement  in  EU  youth 
policy implementation, especially in the post pandemic period. 

18 

 
 
 
2.2.  Connected 

2.2.1.  Flagship: develop rural mobility 

Key deliverables 

During  the  Spanish  Presidency  of  the  EU  Council,  the  Barcelona  Declaration  on 
“Mobility  for  people:  advancing  social  and  territorial  cohesion”  was  adopted  in 
September 2023. The Declaration recognises the importance of sustainable rural mobility 
needs in the regional and national transport system plans, as well as the need to increase 
investments in safe urban and rural road infrastructure and public transport systems.  

A European rural mobility network engaging 
municipalities and multipliers 

To  support  rural  municipalities  in  identifying  best  mobility  solutions,  the  Commission 
launched a two-year project that will be running from 2023 to 2024.  

Called “SMARTA-NET”, the project focuses on sustainable rural mobility solutions 
for tourism and on capacity building at local level. In particular, the project:  

- 

created a European rural mobility network to engage rural municipalities and 
other rural areas;  

-  delivered training programmes on mobility solutions in rural areas;  
-  produced practical tools, such as the self-check on sustainable tourist mobility for 

rural regions and knowledge maps;  

-  produced guidance documents, such as on good practices and durable solutions, 
mobility  in  rural  tourism  communities,  the  rural  dimension  in  the  Sustainable 
Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) and access to financing sources.  

SMARTA-NET  builds  on  the  previous  two  editions  of  SMARTA  which  analysed  and 
tested solutions for sustainable rural mobility. Projects have been financed with the support 
of the European Parliament.  

Regarding  multimodal  digital  mobility  services,  the  Commission  conducted  a  first 
impact assessment study from January 2021 to October 2023. The main objective was to 
facilitate passengers’ ability to compare, access, and book tickets and mobility products 
within  and  across  modes,  and  thereby  contribute  to  facilitating  access  to  alternative 
transport solutions including in rural areas.  

In  addition,  in  November  2023  the  Commission  adopted  a  Directive  to  set  up  a 
framework for the sharing of data. (14) In this context, Member States are required to 
digitalise data. More specifically, to digitalise data on all bus stops across (i) the TEN-T 
network and (ii) extend it to the whole network.  

(14)  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32023L2661  

19 

 
 
 
 
Benefits for rural areas 

The objective of the SMARTA-NET project is to identify and test sustainable, reliable 
and  affordable  transport  solutions  in  rural  areas  giving  mobility  options  to  citizens 
who cannot or do not want to use private cars to access services, work or leisure, such as 
elderly, young people or people with lower income who cannot afford cars. Rolling-out 
these  mobility  solutions  can  also  help  rural  communities  progress  towards  climate 
neutrality, despite the limited availability of public transport.  

As  for  multimodal  digital  mobility  services,  the  objective  is  to  facilitate  access  to 
information and booking of mobility products. In rural areas, this can also help citizens 
access  information  about  all  potential  mobility  offers  (e.g.  car-pooling,  car  sharing 
opportunities) allowing them to make more efficient choices and better combine different 
parts of their – often long – journeys. 

Next steps 

The  Commission  will  finalise  the  SMARTA-NET  project  with  a  final  conference  in 
autumn 2024. 

The creation of a group on “mobility” as part of the rural pact community platform is 
being considered. 

With regard to multimodal digital mobility services, the Commission is currently reflecting 
on how best to proceed with this initiative. Its relevance and the need to address identified 
problems remain unchanged.  

Finally, the Commission is considering organising a session on the research aspects related 
to rural mobility as part of the “Transport Research Arena”, which will take place in Dublin 
in April 2024. 

20 

 
 
2.2.2.  Flagship: rural digital futures 

Key deliverables 

The rural digital futures flagship committed to improve 1) digital connectivity; 2) digital 
technologies  available  for  rural  communities;  3)  digital  skills;  and  4)  tools  to  measure 
progress towards closing the digital gap.   

Digital connectivity  

The  Digital  Decade  Policy  programme (15)  confirmed  the  targets  to  have  gigabit 
connectivity for all EU households and all populated areas to be covered by 5G by 
2030, including in underserved rural regions. Since 2021, the Commission supports and 
will  continue  to  support  the  deployment  of  Gigabit  and  5G  networks  through  the 
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Digital) with a budget of EUR 2.1 billion over 7 years. 
In  addition,  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility  (RRF)  dedicates  around  EUR 16,8 
billion to connectivity, including Very High-Capacity Networks (VHCN) and 5G roll-out 
in remote areas.  

The Commission supports the implementation of the new Union’s Secure Connectivity 
Programme  2023-2027  IRIS  with  a  budget  of  EUR 2.4  billion,  which  also  includes 
satellite  broadband  coverage  in  rural  areas. The  EU  is  also  leveraging  connectivity 
investments  through  the  new  cohesion  policy  funds,  e.g.  the  ERDF  (about  EUR 2.36 
billion) for regions, and InvestEU.  

The Connecting Europe Broadband Fund (CEBF), an equity fund of EUR 555 million, 
is currently investing in state-of-the-art networks in predominantly greenfield areas (grey 
or white areas, typically semi-dense or rural areas) across the EU. The fund has invested 
in the roll-out of fiber to the home (FttH) to 1.7 million premises in the Union and it is 
expected to invest in the roll-out of many more.  

EUR 
23.50  
billion 
 to improve 
connectivity  

Overall  total  of  EUR 23.5  billion  in  grants  have  been 
made  available  in  EU  programmes  for  the  2021-2027 
period, most of which will go to rural areas as state aid 
rules for broadband deployment allow only grants in market 
failure areas.  

Digital technologies  

Horizon  Europe  and  the  Digital  Europe  programme  have 
supported innovation and deployment of digital technologies 
in rural areas, especially data and artificial intelligence (AI) 
technologies.   

Digital Europe is funding the preparation and deployment of different data spaces, some 
of which may bring benefits to rural economies and communities. The agricultural data 
space,  for  which  a  preparatory  action  is  already  underway,  will  enable  the  trustworthy 
sharing of data between  actors linked to  agriculture. The  evolving data space holds the 
potential to create new services for farmers, supporting them in their decision making and 
boosting  their  businesses  competitivity  on  the  market.  The  tourism  and  smart 
communities data spaces will also be crucial for rural communities to grasp the potential 

(15)  https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/digital-decade-policy-programme-2030  

21 

 
 
of data economies to support sustainable realities and to tailor services to the needs of the 
local community. The testing and experimentation facility for AI in agri-food started 
in January 2023. It will help innovators to assess and validate AI and robotics solutions 
fostering sustainable and efficient food production and achieve market maturity. 

Finally,  the  Digital  Europe  work  programme  is  financing  the  ‘European  Digital 
Innovation Hubs’ (EDIH). The 151 hubs already established offer services to public and 
private  organisations  across  the  European  Union,  combining  the  benefits  of  a  regional 
presence with the opportunities available to a pan European network. 85% of the European 
regions host organisations forming the EDIH network and EDIHs services are available in 
nearly 90% of the European regions. This regional presence leaves them well-placed to 
provide  the  services  local  companies  need,  through  the  local  language  and  innovation 
ecosystem. A high share of these EDIH focus on digital technologies in agri-food. 

Digital skills  

In  addition  to  the  support  provided  through  the  approved  programmes  of  the  European 
Social Fund +  (ESF+) and common agricultural  policy strategic plans, the Commission 
has  highlighted  specific  challenges  faced  by  rural  areas  in  its  proposals  for Council 
recommendations on the provision of digital skills and on enabling factors for digital 
education  adopted  in  April  2023,  leading  to  Council  recommendations  adopted  on  23 
November 2023 (16). 

A  rural  pact  good  practice  webinar  “Strengthening  digital  skills  of  rural  people  to 
benefit from the digital era” (17) (8 June 2023) raised awareness of the various funding 
opportunities  in  the  European  Digital  Education  action  plan  2021-2027  and  good 
practices to improve digital skills in specific rural contexts.  

Under  the  Digital  Europe  Programme,  Strategic  Objective  4,  which  focuses  on  digital 
skills, specialised education programmes and training will support the skilling of European 
future employees in selected digital areas (e.g. virtual reality, AI, data analytics and more) 
and their application in strategic sectors, agriculture included. 

Finally,  the  preparatory  action  “learning  from  the  extremes” (18)  aimed  at  addressing 
inequalities  of  access  to  digital  education  by  enhancing  inclusion  and  by  reducing  the 
digital  gap  suffered  by  school  communities  from  remote  areas  with  low  connectivity, 
limited or no access to devices and digital educational tools and content. In 2023, 76 pilot 
projects were supported, including 123 schools in rural areas in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, 
Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. 

Tracking progress towards closing the gap  

A “rural in digital” index showcasing the most relevant indicators of the Digital economic 
and  social  index  (DESI)  was  published  on  29  August  2022  as  planned  in  the  EU  rural 
action plan. Decisions made after on monitoring progress towards the digital decade targets 
led to discontinue this index alongside other thematic indexes. The reports published in the 

(16)  https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/11/23/digital-skills-and-competences-

and-successful-digital-education-and-training-fit-for-the-digital-era/   

(17)  https://rural-vision.europa.eu/events/strengthening-digital-skills-rural-people-benefit-digital-era-2023-

06-08_en  

(18)  https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/funding/learning-extremes  

22 

 
 
context of the digital decade however keep including  a wealth of  relevant  indicators to 
allow tracking progress towards closing the digital gap in rural areas (19).  

Benefits for rural areas 

The DESI (Digital Economy and Society Index) report 2023 shows that at the end of June 
2022: 

- 

-  73.4% of EU homes were passed by either fiber to the premise (FTTP) or cable 
DOCSIS  3.1  (increasing  by  3.5  percentage  points,  representing  a  slow-down  in 
growth compared with the previous study period 2022); 
rural  overall  FTTP  &  DOCSIS  3.1  (the  technologies  supporting  gigabit 
speeds)  coverage  reached  45.1%  of  rural  households,  growing  by  8.1 
percentage points in the twelve months to mid-2022;  
in  absolute  terms,  13.9  million  rural  households  across  the  EU  were  passed  by 
either FTTP or DOCSIS 3.1 networks at the end of June 2022; 

- 

-  more than half of rural households (55%) were not served by any fixed VHCN 

network (despite progress in FTTB); 

the EU is lagging behind the US in 5G coverage: EU 81% v USA 96%; 

-  9% of rural households are not yet covered by any fixed network; 
-  65.3% of populated rural areas are not covered by 5G; 
- 
-  very high-speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) services: EU 54.9% v rural 41.2%; 
- 
- 

long-term evolution (LTE): EU 99.8% v rural 99.2% ; and 
the gap between rural and urban areas in the digital skills of the population persists: 
only  46%  of  individuals  living  in  rural  areas  have  at  least  basic  digital  skills 
compared to people living in the predominantly urban areas (61%). 

Next steps 

Despite good progress over the last years, broadband coverage remains uneven between 
rural and urban areas, with large differences especially when it comes to very high-capacity 
networks  (VHCNs).  To  improve  the  situation,  the  Commission  is  busy  setting  up  a 
predictable  regulatory  environment,  providing  the  conditions  to 
incentivise 
investment. In addition, minimising deployment costs will continue to play an important 
role in accelerating the universal availability of gigabit connectivity.  

The Commission also invites Member States to adapt strategies, steer investments and take 
policy initiatives to reach the digital decade connectivity targets, e.g. by: 

-  mapping connectivity gaps;  
- 
- 
- 
- 

exploring financing to complement private investment in market failure areas;  
focusing particularly on rural and remote areas and outermost regions;   
complement deployment efforts with take-up measures by private/businesses;  
fully  implement  the  EU’s  5G  toolbox  by  applying  restrictions  on  high-risk 
suppliers;  

-  put in place reforms, building on Resilience and recovery plans (RRP) measures, 

to lower the cost of network deployment;  

-  quickly adopt the Gigabit Infrastructure Act, to speed up benefits from new rules; 
-  boost efforts for a secure & resilient infrastructure (backbones & submarine 

cables).  

(19)  https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/broadband-coverage-europe-2022 

23 

 
 
 
2.2.3.  Support the roll-out of broadband in rural areas 

Key deliverables 

In April 2022, the Commission started a second contract for a Broadband Competence 
Offices Support Facility to provide support to the Broadband Competence Offices (BCO) 
Network (20) for the next five years. The BCO Network, is assisting in speeding up the 
planning and execution of public interventions for the provision of connectivity for areas 
where the market has failed to provide adequate coverage, such as rural and remote areas. 
This is achieved through capacity building and sharing of good practices. 

On  12  December  2022,  the  Commission  adopted  the  new  EU  State  aid  guidelines  for 
broadband networks for areas not served by the market (21). The guidelines, published 
in the EU Official journal on 26 January 2023, clarify various aspects, including support 
for demand through broadband voucher measures and specific provisions for areas with 
low population density which face challenges with accessing subsidies for infrastructure 
and relevant wholesale products. 

Benefits for rural areas 

BCOs  and  the  Networking  Facility  support  local,  regional  and  national  authorities  in 
understanding  how  they  can  best  benefit  from  and  implement  these  funding 
opportunities, as well as advising the authorities on all relevant legislation. On average, 
88  people  have  participated  in  the  weekly  capacity  building  webinars,  with  a  total 
attendance of nearly 1 500 persons since the renewal of the contract in April 2022. The 
focus of these sessions is accelerating broadband roll-out in rural areas. The BCO Support 
Facility is working in close collaboration with the EU CAP Network and the Rural Pact 
Support Office to bring together the stakeholders of broadband and of rural development. 

The  DESI  2023  report  reveals  that  these  activities  continue  to  be  highly  needed  as 
broadband coverage remains uneven between rural and urban areas, with large differences 
especially when it comes to very high-capacity networks (VHCNs), but also because of 
the costs associated with deploying these networks in rural areas. Despite the fact that the 
highest  growth  in  2022  took  place  in  rural  areas  in  the  most  important  segment  of  the 
gigable supporting technologies (FTTP and DOCSIS 3.1), a large gap persists both in terms 
of urban-rural divide, which amounts to 28 percentage points, as well as in terms of internet 
use, as subscription rates in cities, towns and suburbs are comparatively higher. 4G is now 
widespread  in  rural  areas  (99.6%).  To  bridge  the  digital  divide,  the  EU  is  providing 
extensive support through investments and over EUR 16 billion of RRF will fund reforms 
and investments in digital connectivity that have been approved for the next four years. 
BCOs  are  instrumental  in  enabling  rural  communities  to  benefit  from  these  funding 
opportunities. 

(20)  https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/bco-network  

(21)  Commission, Guidelines on State aid for broadband networks (2023/C 36/01) 

24 

 
 
 
 
Next steps 

In  developing  public  policy  for  broadband  investment  in  rural  areas  and  balancing  the 
demand  and  supply  of  ICT  services,  it  is  crucial  to  address  the  challenges  such  as  low 
population density, difficult terrain, and challenging socio-economic conditions.  

The forthcoming updated Broadband investment Handbook, planned to be published in the 
first quarter of 2024, will recommend a few measures to support demand, such as demand 
aggregation  through  self-subscription  mechanisms  for  both  private  and  public  sectors. 
Demand  from  public  administrations,  such  as  local  administrative  buildings,  schools, 
hospitals, libraries, etc.) can constitute anchor tenants supporting the viability of broadband 
investment, particularly in rural or remote areas with challenging conditions. 

Territorial  coverage  is  an  area  that  will  need  to  complement  the  data  on  household 
coverage. 

25 

 
 
 
2.2.4.  Promotion of digitalisation in the agricultural sector 

Key deliverables 

Through  the  digitalisation  strategies  in  National  CAP  strategic  plans,  effective  links 
between  the  CAP  and  Horizon  Europe  have  been  achieved  to  boost  the  sustainable 
digital transformation in agriculture and rural areas. Finalised Horizon 2020 projects 
such as Internet of food and farm (IoF 2020) and SmartAgriHubs focused on Internet 
of Things (IoT) technologies in agriculture and probing the concept of ‘Digital Innovation 
Hubs’, respectively, and resulting in the development of innovative solutions in the field 
of smart agriculture.   

With Horizon Europe, under the first work programmes for Cluster 6 (Food, bioeconomy, 
natural  resources,  agriculture  and  the  environment)  covering  2021  and  2022,  the 
Commission launched or will launch 15 projects with an EU contribution of EUR 75 
million  and  focusing  on  drones,  data  economy,  smart  connectivity,  and  blockchain 
technologies in agriculture. For the Cluster 6 work programme for 2023/2024, 7 projects 
with  an  EU  contribution  of  EUR 35  million  are  expected.  Themes  include  augmented 
reality to enhance working conditions in agriculture, markets for data infrastructure, open-
source edge and cloud solutions and data technologies in livestock tracking.  

Regarding  Cluster  4  (Digital,  industry  and  space),  capacity  building  measures  (e.g.  in 
advanced  digital  skills)  have  been  proactively  promoted  in  the  research  and  innovation 
(R&I) community.  

Benefits for rural areas 

Demonstration projects,  podcasts and social media content, and use  cases have made it 
feasible  for  the  agricultural  community  to  see  the  benefits  of  novel  technologies  in 
agriculture, such as efficiency gains, environmental protection, and cost-effectiveness.  

The  multi-actor  approach,  a  requirement  in  the  calls  for  projects  that  scientists  work 
together with practitioners, made sure scientists involved farmers and other end-users 
in the innovation process. Many Digital Innovation Hubs intend to target farmers with their 
work.  Linking  R&I  projects  working  on  agricultural  and  rural  digitalisation  has  also 
widened the discussion on synergies and cross-sectoral data use.  

Next steps 

The review of SmartAgriHubs revealed limited socio-economic spill-over effects to rural 
areas, but living labs contributed to capacity building in communities. R&I  actions and 
innovation  actions  should  be  encouraged  to  achieve  spill-over  effects,  along  with 
interlinking  projects  about  digitalisation  in  agricultural  and  rural  areas.  R&I  projects 
should  also  assess  social  implications,  not  just  environmental  and  economic  ones.  To 
convince farmers and encourage technology uptake, results need to be promoted among 
end-users in a feasible way and with hard figures.  

The EU AgriResearch Conference 2023 identified R&I priorities concerning digitalisation 
for  agriculture  and  rural  areas.  Member  States  can  increase  the  uptake  of  innovative 
solutions through CAP instruments  e.g. through training. The European Commission 
will take these elements into account when drafting the future calls for projects for 2025-
2027. 

26 

 
 
2.2.5.  Highlight urban-rural linkages in the new  

EU urban mobility framework 

Key deliverables 

The  new  EU  urban  mobility  framework  was  adopted  by  the  Commission  in  December 
2021.  It  envisages  specific  actions  to  better  integrate  the  urban/metropolitan,  peri-
urban  and  rural  linkages,  including  through  further  development  of  the  Sustainable 
Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs).  

An updated EU concept for sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMP) was published 
in March 2023 as part of the Commission Recommendation on national SUMP support 
programme. It includes aspects related to connectivity between urban and peri-urban and 
rural areas aspects.  

The  Commission  re-launched  an  Expert  group  on  urban  mobility  to  discuss  the 
opportunities to further improve urban and rural mobility. In particular, two sub-groups 
were set up:  

- 
- 

sub-group 1 on SUMP monitoring and implementation; 
sub-group 3 on public transport and shared mobility.  

In  October  2023,  the  Commission  adopted  the  proposal  for  a  European  Declaration  on 
cycling,  recognising  cycling  as  a  sustainable,  accessible  and  inclusive,  affordable  and 
healthy means of transport, including in rural areas. 

Benefits for rural areas 

This action benefits mostly rural areas that are close to cities, representing potentially 
one-third of the rural territory and half of the rural population. The Commission considers 
that  the  revised  sustainable  urban  mobility  plans  provide  sustainable  mobility 
solutions for rural inhabitants travelling to cities and for city inhabitants willing to reach 
rural areas in a sustainable way. This  facilitates the permanent establishment of new 
inhabitants in rural areas close to cities as well as business development related to the 
provision of recreational services to urban dwellers. 

Next steps 

The Commission expects that the deliverables of the Commission expert group on urban 
mobility will become available in mid-2024.  

27 

 
 
 
2.2.6.  Accessibility of rural areas through the drone strategy 2.0.  

Key deliverables 

The Commission drone strategy 2.0 has been adopted in November 2022. It highlights 
the potential of drones to improve accessibility in rural areas and launches a number 
of flagships.  

Since the strategy’s adoption, there has been good progress on some flagships of particular 
interest to rural areas:  

- 

- 

action 4: adopt rules for the ‘certified’ category of drone operations, addressing the 
initial  and  continued  airworthiness  of  drones  subject  to  certification;  and  the 
operational  requirements  applicable  to  manned  vertical  take-off  and  landing  or 
‘VTOL’-capable aircraft; and 
action 7: fund the creation of an online platform to support a sustainable innovative 
air mobility (IAM) implementation by authorities, cities, industry and stakeholders. 

Benefits for rural areas 

In addition to utility services (field inspections and measurements), drones can improve 
accessibility in remote rural areas. They can be used for delivery of small goods in rural 
areas  (e.g.  small  packages,  prescribed  medicine  to  patient  homes,  mail,  food,  small 
automotive  parts,  etc.)  and  provide  fast  and  effective  responses  in  case  of  natural 
disasters. 

Envisaged uses cover high-risk operations, which could include agricultural use cases such 
as aerial spraying.  Precision agriculture (monitoring of crops, spraying, environmental 
protection, planting, etc.) is one of the most promising use cases for drone operations, and 
it is expected to become commercially viable within 2-5 years. 

However,  the  European  Directive  2009/128/EC  on  the  sustainable  use  of  pesticides 
generally prohibits aerial spraying. It only allows it in special cases and under derogation 
to the EU rules. The derogations are possible only in those cases where, if compared to 
other  spraying  methods,  the  low  operating  altitudes  of  drones  significantly  reduce  the 
possibility  that  the  released  products  are  dispersed  outside  the  areas  covered  by  the 
treatments. 

Next steps 

The  description  of  this  action  was  focused  on  adopting  the  strategy  and  this  action  is 
therefore considered as completed. Next steps include implementing the actions foreseen 
in the adopted strategy. 

28 

 
 
 
2.3.  Resilient 

2.3.1. Flagship: support rural municipalities in energy 

transitions and fighting climate change 

Key deliverables 

While working on implementing the flagship action to support rural municipalities in the 
energy  transition  and  fighting  climate  change,  the  most  important  action  taken  was  the 
creation of a Rural energy community advisory hub (RECAH) in July 2022. This was 
a two-year action (2022 – 2023) that the Commission added to the original rural action 
plan.  

this  context,  RECAH  provided  assistance  to  27 
In 
beneficiaries  in  developing  energy  communities  through 
the  technical  assistance  programme.  It  also  developed 
guidance  documents  on  setting  up  and  maintaining  rural 
energy  communities  and  organised  six  networking  sessions 
and several conferences.  

The  Commission  has  also  taken  steps  to  implement  the 
flagship actions foreseen in the rural action plan, including in 
relation to:  

27  
energy 
communities 
supported  

The Covenant of Mayors  

The Covenant of Mayors (CoM) collaborated with the European Network for Rural 
Development (ENRD) to promote the CoM City in the Spotlight Awards call and share 
projects  from  rural  municipalities  in  2022.  Within  the  Covenant  of  Mayors  Office 
(CoMO)’s  peer  learning  programme,  CoMO  highlighted  the  importance  of  the  rural 
dimension and encouraged applications from rural municipalities, with ENRD helping to 
disseminate  these  opportunities.  CoMO  took  part  in  a  panel  discussion  on  energy 
communities at the 2022 Rural pact conference.  

On 8 June 2023, CoMO organised a webinar focused on "Developing and implementing 
Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans in small and rural municipalities." The 
webinar featured speakers from DG AGRI, DG ENER, and DG CLIMA who presented 
their respective policies with a specific emphasis on small and rural municipalities. The 
webinar also informed participants about the rural pact and its opportunities.  

CoMO has held discussions with the Rural Pact Support Office in May 2023 to explore 
synergies  and  cooperation  on  various 
includes  communication  of 
opportunities,  collaboration  in  upcoming  events,  dissemination  of  knowledge  to  local 
authorities,  and  exploring  connections  between  Sustainable  Energy  and  Climate  Action 
Plans  and  the  commitments  of  the  rural  pact.  The  collaboration  materialised  in  the 
organisation of a webinar on the ‘Energy transition in rural areas’ in October 2023.  

levels.  This 

The new European Bauhaus (NEB)  

In January 2023, JRC issued a progress report on the first two years of implementation of 
the new European Bauhaus (NEB), considering that rural areas play an important role. In 
this context, it was acknowledged that, within the  call on ‘Support to New European 
Bauhaus Local Initiatives’, cohesion policy is addressing the need to build the capacities 
of local authorities to facilitate local transformation processes through the NEB. This 
call was also focused on NEB transformations of physical spaces, including in rural areas. 

29 

 
The use of structural funding to finance the renovation wave  

It is too early to have conclusive information on the execution of the structural funds to 
finance the renovation wave. In particular, the selection of local development strategies of 
LEADER local action groups is not yet fully finalised. 

The common agricultural policy (CAP) supports the climate and energy transitions in rural 
areas  particularly  under  its  specific  objective  4:  “contribute  to  climate  change 
mitigation  and  adaptation,  including  by  reducing  greenhouse  gas  emissions  and 
enhancing carbon sequestration, as well as promoting sustainable energy”. Several CAP 
interventions contribute directly to help achieving this objective, including investments, 
LEADER and knowledge exchange and dissemination of information. 

Benefits for rural areas 

RECAH contributed to increasing the understanding and capacity of citizens and local 
authorities to create renewable energy communities in rural areas. It also provided a 
structured  avenue  for  discussing  and  overcoming  similar  challenges,  as  well  as  for 
exchange of information, knowledge and best practices.  

The CoM increased the understanding and capacity of small and medium-sized cities to 
make  commitments  under  the  rural  pact.  The  events  organised  provided  avenues  for 
exchange of information, knowledge and best practices. 

The  NEB  helped  20  smaller  and  medium-sized  municipalities  in  receiving  tailored, 
multidisciplinary expert support on the ground to turn their NEB ideas into reality, with 
projects ranging from new art centres and creative working spaces to the inclusion of the 
Roma to regeneration of abandoned industrial sites. 

Under the CAP specific objective on climate change, Member States have the opportunity 
to design interventions under their CAP strategic plans (CSP) to enhance the energy and 
climate transition in rural areas. 22 CSP include targeted interventions to support the 
production of renewable energy, e.g. on-farm investments for self-consumption but also 
for diversification and investments for other rural businesses and small infrastructure in 
rural areas. 

Next steps 

The Energy Communities Facility will be set up in 2024 to merge some of the activities 
of  the  Energy  Communities  Repository  and  Rural  Energy  Community  Advisory  Hub. 
Cascade  funding  will  be  provided  in  the  form  of  grants  to  energy  communities  to  help 
design their business plans. 

Whilst it is not foreseen to create a dedicated rural pillar under the CoM, the Commission 
will keep exploring the synergies with the CoM to enhance the benefits for rural areas 
and  small  and  medium  sized  rural  municipalities  (e.g.  through  the  organisation  of 
events). 

In  addition,  the  Commission  is  exploring  follow-up  activities  and  synergies  with  the 
NEB and the Smart cities marketplace (e.g. the organisation of events) to include a more 
prominent rural dimension, which would also involve small and medium-sized cities. 

30 

 
 
2.3.2.  Flagship: climate action in peatland through carbon farming 

Key deliverables 

Over the past two years the Commission has consistently promoted action on peatlands 
across its policies and policy instruments, notably by: 

- 

streamlining targeted support for costs linked to climate action on peatlands 
(e.g.  eco-schemes,  rural  development  interventions,  and  advisory  services  and 
cooperation) in the context of the assessment of the common agricultural policy 
(CAP) strategic plans;  

-  developing an  EU  certification framework to certify  soil emission reductions 

resulting from peatland restoration; 

-  developing financing possibilities through the Just Transition Fund to support 

- 

peatland conservation and restoration; 
setting  the  focus on carbon farming actions on peatlands in  the context of the 
LIFE yearly calls for projects. 

The revised agricultural and forestry state aid guidelines, published on 21 December 2022, 
provide  increased  support  possibilities  for  climate-relevant  measures,  including 
protecting  and  restoring  peat  soils  in  forestry.  At  the  end  of  2022,  the  Commission 
proposed an EU-wide voluntary framework to certify high-quality carbon removals. An 
expert  group  to  develop  certification  methodologies  on  carbon  removals,  including 
peatland  restoration,  was  established.  The  expert  group  on  carbon  farming  held  a 
thematic session on peatland restoration on 21 and 22 June 2023.  In addition, in 2023 the 
Commission continued the focus on peatlands in the context of the National and energy 
climate plans’ update.  

Benefits for rural areas 

These actions contributed to making rural areas advance towards climate-neutrality. 
The  role  of  peatlands  for  climate  and  the  environment  is  often  underestimated  and 
restoration of these important organic soils leads to trade-offs resulting from the loss 
of  agricultural  land  that  could  where  possible  be  addressed  through  support  for 
paludiculture. 

The  certification  framework  can  create  new  business  models  to  encourage  climate-
friendly use of peatland through public subsidies or private finance. Rural actors benefit 
from support offered by the CAP, EU programmes such as LIFE, Horizon Europe, Just 
Transition Fund, and State aid, using lessons learned from research and pilot schemes.  

The CAP 2023-2027 introduced the new standard 'GAEC 2 Protection of wetland and 
peatland'  requiring  protection  of  wetlands  and  peatlands  under  conditionality.  12 
Member  States  started  to  implement  this  GAEC  in  2023,  with  others  started 
implementing GAEC 2 as from 2024 or 2025 as mapping of peatlands and wetlands on 
agricultural land was not yet finalised in 2023. Most Member States proposed under GAEC 
2 practices such as a ban or restrictions on drainage, reduced tillage, and ban on ploughing, 
whereas  area-based  interventions  in  certain  Member  States  support  the  conversion  of 
arable peatlands to grasslands, paludiculture, and extensive management of grasslands in 
wetlands.  35%  of  the  EU's  utilised  agricultural  land  is  set  to  receive  support  for 
reducing  emissions  and  increasing  removals  in  soil  and  biomass  over  the  2023-2027 
programming  period.  Additionally,  some  Member  States  are  financing  actions  to 
restore peatlands or support paludiculture outside of CAP. 

31 

 
Next steps 

EU  action  in  this  respect  has  been  consistent  and  continuous,  providing  financing 
possibilities  and  stimulating  uptake.  The  relevant  policies  are  in  place  and  need  to  be 
implemented. 

During the course of 2024, the Commission will prioritise the development of tailored 
certification  methodologies  for  inter  alia  carbon  farming,  which  provide  significant 
benefits including for the rewetting of peatlands. 

32 

 
 
 
2.3.3.  Flagship: the EU mission ‘A Soil deal for Europe’ 

Key deliverables 

Horizon Europe  

The  mission  ‘A  Soil  deal  for  Europe’  (or  ‘Mission  Soil’)  was  officially  launched  in 
September 2021. Since then, three work programmes (2021-2023) were adopted with  a 
total budget of EUR 301 million, as described below. 

Work  programme  2021:  EUR 5 million  were  allocated  to  a  preparatory  action  and 
EUR 62 million were allocated to eight topics and two “other actions”. Funded projects 
focus on soil monitoring, business models for soil health, regional soil needs, soil advisors 
and  opportunities  for  engagement  of  regional  and  local  stakeholders,  and  preparing  the 
ground for the creation of soil health living labs.  

Work programme 2022: EUR 95 million were allocated to ten topics. Grant agreements 
were  signed  in  May  and  June  2023.  Projects  will  promote  actions  focusing  on  all  four 
operational  objectives  of  the  soil  mission  as  well  as  addressing  the  mission’s  hotspots 
“carbon  farming”,  “soil  biodiversity”,  “pollution  and  restoration”  and  “circular 
economy”.   

Work programme 2023: EUR 126 million were allocated to 9 topics addressing on-site 
digital  technologies,  waste  management,  soil  decontamination,  desertification,  spatial 
planning, engagement with creative industries and establishing the first wave of living labs 
among  others.  The  work  programme  also  includes  two  joint  calls  for  proposals  with 
missions “Restore our ocean & waters” and “Adaptation to climate change” on increasing 
landscape water retention capacity at regional scale and addressing nutrient pollution in 
the landscape-river-sea system in the Mediterranean sea basin. 

Soil literacy, communication and engagement   

Since the mission’s inception in September 2019, it has been presented and discussed in 
interactive formats at over 300 events across Europe and beyond. A survey of citizens’ 
perceptions of soils and soil-related challenges was also conducted, with more than 2 500 
replies.   

During the implementation phase, the mission is expanding engagement activities through 
dedicated actions and living labs to increase soil literacy and public involvement across 
practitioners and society. This includes creating Territorial Management Agreements to 
tackle soil challenges and mobilising schools and universities for soil literacy. The mission 
was also  featured in  the  EU Soil Observatory Stakeholder  Fora and  a novel  “European 
Mission Soil Week” took place in November 2023 under the Spanish Presidency of the EU 
Council in Madrid.  

33 

 
 
 
Benefits for rural areas 

The activities funded under the mission are contributing to protect and restore soil health 
in many rural areas. The mission topics and projects below are also especially relevant for 
rural areas. 

-  2021-SOIL-02-06  -  Engage  with  and  activate  municipalities  and  regions  to 
protect  and  restore  soil  health.  The  project  HuMUS  is  working  with 
municipalities  and  regions  to  increase  awareness  and  understanding  of  the 
importance  and  value  of  soil  health  and  co-create  territorial  management 
agreements.  It  will  identify  EU  funds  that  can  be  used  for  soil  protection  and 
restoration.   

-  2022-SOIL-01-07 Foster soil education across society - this topic highlights that 
activities should cover both urban and rural areas. The project LOESS will work 
with  educational  institutions,  teachers,  and  students  to  improve  soil  literacy  in 
society.  

-  2023-SOIL-01-06 Soils in spatial planning – projects funded under this topic will, 
among  other activities, improve the knowledge on potential trade-offs regarding 
the provision of ecosystem services in the context of further expanding urban, peri-
urban and rural areas.  

-  2023-SOIL-01-07 Back to earth: bringing communities and citizens closer to 
soil – this topic highlights that the project funded under it should contribute to the 
implementation of the long-term vision for rural areas.   

-  2023-SOIL-01-08 Co-creating solutions for soil health in living labs and 2023-
SOIL-01-09 Carbon farming in living labs are going to contribute to rural areas’ 
resilience as many of the living labs are expected to be located in rural areas.  

Next steps 

The missions are all implementing the recommendations outlined in the ‘Communication 
from the Commission on ‘EU Missions two years on: assessment of progress and way 
forward’ (22), which was adopted in July 2023. 

The work programme for 2024 is in its final stage with a publication foreseen in March 
2024. It encompasses nine promising topics, to establish new living labs but also to assess 
and expand soil regenerative practices, including at international scale.  

Co-creation activities for work programme for 2025 are expected to begin in mid-February 
2024, with stakeholders able to contribute through public feedback.  As the mission is a 
flagship initiative of the long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas, the strong link between 
soil  health  and  rural  areas’  resilience  will  potentially  be  highlighted  even  more  in  the 
future. 

(22)   COM(2023) 457 final 

34 

 
 
 
 
2.3.4.  Flagship: social resilience and women in rural areas 

Key deliverables 

The Commission adopted the European care strategy in September 2022 to improve the 
situation for people in need of care and their carers, highlighting the challenges of those 
living in rural areas. The strategy is being implemented via horizontal EU actions and it is 
accompanied  by  two  Council  recommendations,  on  long-term  care  and  childcare 
respectively, that should guide reforms and investments at the national level. 

-  The Council recommendation on access to affordable high-quality long-term 
care (LTC), approved by the Council in December 2022, calls Member States to 
act to improve their long-term care systems, including by closing territorial gaps in 
the  availability  of  and  access  to  long-term  care,  in  particular  in  rural  and 
depopulating areas.  

-  The Council recommendation on early childhood education and care (ECEC) 
– the Barcelona targets 2030, adopted by the Council in December 2022, calls on 
Member States to address challenges for children and their families in accessing a 
suitable education and care facility by providing sufficient territorial coverage of 
ECEC provision. In particular, Member States should organise the provision of 
ECEC adequately across urban and rural areas.  

The horizontal EU level actions carried out under the care strategy and presented below 
are relevant to addressing territorial inequalities. 

-  The self-assessment tool for Member States: the commission is working with the 
World Health Organisation (WHO) in developing a comprehensive methodology 
to help Member States and regions to self-assess their long-term care policies. 
The tool may contain questions on territorial challenges.  

-  Toolkit  to  support  informal  carers:  the  Commission  and  the  World  Health 
Organisation (WHO) are working on a toolkit to practically support informal carers 
in their care giving activities. This could be valuable in rural areas to many women 
providing LTC informally. 

-  Research projects on territorial inequalities in care: in 2023, the Commission 
published a call for proposals under the Horizon Europe programme on addressing 
territorial inequalities in care and research on integrated care solutions. The call is 
expected to generate at least three projects looking into the issue.  

The European  Social  Fund  Plus  (ESF+)  is  the  EU’s  main  instrument  for  investing  in 
people’s employment, education and skills, and in social inclusion to support economic, 
social and territorial cohesion in the EU. The ESF+ notably finances actions supporting 
women’s access to  employment in all the Member States, including in rural areas. 
Among  others,  the  ESF+  supports  education,  and  training  measures  under  the  specific 
objective “3. promote a gender-balanced labour market participation, equal working 
conditions and a better work–life balance, including through affordable care for children 
and other dependent persons”. 

The  common  agricultural  policy  (CAP)  supports  gender  equality  in  rural  areas 
particularly under specific objective 8, “promoting employment, growth, representation in 
decision-making processes, participation in farming businesses, social inclusion and local 

35 

 
development” which includes a reference to enhancing the position of women in farming 
and accelerating the social inclusion of rural women. The Commission organised a number 
of networking activities focusing on gender equality in rural areas including:  

−  an EU CAP Network workshop on “advancing gender equality in rural areas”  on 

15 and 16 November 2022; 

−  a session dedicated to women in rural areas at the High-level rural policy forum 
“Shaping  the  future  of  rural  areas”  in  Sigüenza,  Spain,  on  28  September  2023 
jointly organised by the European Commission and the Spanish presidency of the 
EU Council with the Rural Pact Support Office. 

−  The European Commission and Mission of Canada to the EU organised jointly the 
event  titled  ‘Incentivise,  Inspire  and  Include:  Transatlantic  views  on  supporting 
women in agriculture’ on 27 October 2023, to discuss the challenges of women in 
farming and agri-food sectors in the transatlantic context and to reflect on solutions.  
−  a Rural Pact Support Office good practice webinar on “enhancing access to health 
services in rural areas” in partnership with the WHO and the European Rural and 
Isolated Practitioners Association (EURIPA), 30 November 2023; 

−  an EU CAP network workshop on “mental health and well-being of farmers and 

farming communities”, 27 February and 28 May 2024.  

Benefits for rural areas 

Care services, education and training providers as well as social partners set up a large-
scale  skills  partnership  for  long-term  care  in  April  2023.  The  partners  committed  to 
train  at  least  60%  of  the  long-term  care  workforce  (3.8 million  workers)  every  year  by 
2030. Ensuring that workers have the right skills is key to provide high-quality long-term 
care also in rural areas. 

A new European social dialogue committee for social services was established, bringing 
together  employers  and  trade  unions  of  the  sector.  This  will  contribute  to  improving 
working  conditions  and  wages  in  the  sector,  hence  increasing  sector  attractiveness  and 
reducing  labour  shortages  which  are  higher  in  rural  areas.  The  Commission  is  funding 
social  innovation  projects  in  long-term  care.  Two  of  the  projects,  based  in  Poland  and 
Spain, directly address the challenges of providing long-term care in rural depopulating 
areas.  

Under  specific  objective  8  of  the  CAP,  Member  States  have  the  opportunity  to  design 
interventions under their CAP strategic plans to enhance the participation of women 
in farming and foster social inclusion for women living in rural areas.  

Two good examples of gender mainstreaming in CAP 2023-2027 can be found in 
the CAP Strategic Plans for Spain and Ireland.  

•  Spain  has  included a top-up to  the complementary income support to  young 

• 

farmers in the case of young female farmers.  
Ireland has provided a higher level of support for women in the on-farm capital 
investment scheme.  

In addition, the majority of Member States committed to include at least 50% of women 
in the decision making bodies for LEADER  

36 

 
 
The debate at the high-level policy  forum in Sigüenza prepared the ground for Council 
conclusions adopted by the Council in November 2023, which highlight the importance of 
rural women and social services in rural areas. 

Next steps 

The Commission will continue to pay special attention to rural areas in the implementation 
of the care strategy. Member States are looking at how their long-term care policies need 
to be strengthened in line with the Council recommendation on access to affordable high-
quality long-term care and will report to the Commission on actions taken or planned 
to implement it in 2024. The actions should address territorial challenges in long-term 
care, as called for in the Recommendation.  

Under  the  2023-2027  CAP,  the  collection  of  gender  disaggregated  data  will  be 
strengthened to enable monitoring of progress in the field of gender equality. 

37 

 
 
 
 
2.3.5.  Analyse spatial mobility in demographically 

declining areas in Europe 

Key deliverables 

Between 2021 and 2023, three research and innovation projects have been funded under 
the  Horizon  Europe  Cluster  2  topic  "The  impact  of  spatial  mobility  on  European 
demographics,  society,  welfare  system  and 
labour  market"  with  a  budget  of 
EUR 9 million. These projects are the following:    

-  PREMIUM_EU  ‘Policy  recommendations  to  maximise  the  beneficial  impact  of 
unexplored  mobilities  in  and  beyond  the  European  Union’,  that  will  develop  a 
regional policy dashboard to assist policy makers in vulnerable regions (23);   
-  MOBI-TWIN  ‘Twin  transition  and  changing  patterns  of  spatial  mobility:  a 
regional approach’ that will focus on the impact of global transitions on rural 
areas (24);    

-  Re-Place  ‘Reframing  non-metropolitan  left  behind  places  through  mobility  and 
alternative development’ that will study the impact of spatial mobility on non-
metropolitan left-behind areas (25).  

All  three  projects  aim  to  improve  local  development  and  wellbeing  and  address  the 
complexity of spatial mobility's role in the future of peripheral places. 

Benefits for rural areas 

The projects funded under this special action will produce new knowledge on the impact 
of spatial mobility on rural areas. They will develop new tools and methodologies to 
help policy makers formulate policies that enhance regional inclusive growth, wellbeing, 
and  alternative  local  development.  Participatory  research  and  co-creation  will  reframe 
existing narratives and reinforce a sense of place for residents and newcomers in vulnerable 
rural areas. 

Next steps 

The projects have a duration of three to four years. Launched in spring 2023, they will end 
between mid-2026 and the beginning of 2027. Outputs and knowledge produced by the 
projects will be promoted through the rural vision and rural pact communication channels. 
Following the completion of the project, needs for further research will be analysed and 
fed  in  the  preparation  of  the  following  work  programmes  of  the  European  framework 
programme for research and innovation.  

Considering that this action relies on three research and innovation projects, the decision 
has  been  made  to  move  it  under  the  flagship  ‘research  and  innovation  for  rural 
communities’ under the area of action for ‘stronger rural areas’ in the reviewed EU rural 
action plan, to streamline reporting. A reference remains under the ‘resilient’ action area 
for the record. 

(23)  https://premium-eu.org/   

(24)  https://mobi-twin-project.eu/ 

(25)  https://replace-horizon.eu/  

38 

 
 
 
2.3.6.  Study on the working conditions of 
agricultural seasonal workers 

Key deliverables 

The Commission has launched a study on the working conditions of agricultural seasonal 
workers.  

The call for the tender was published in 2022, offers were submitted in the second half of 
2022. The assessment of the offers is completed. The study started in September 2023 
and has a duration of 19 months. The final deliverables will cover four themes, and they 
will analyse case studies based on quantitative and qualitative research. 

-  Theme 1: Overview and mapping of current state of play  
-  Theme 2: Effectiveness of the enforcement systems in place  
-  Theme 3: Obstacles and possible enlargement of social conditionality scope  
-  Theme 4: Baseline and collection of quantitative data  

Benefits for rural areas 

Agriculture workers in rural areas can benefit from the social conditionality starting from 
2025 under the common agricultural policy. The Commission has undertaken to assess the 
mechanism  after  the  first  two  years.  This  study  will  serve  as  a  baseline  to  this  ex-post 
assessment of social conditionality in 2027.  

Next steps 

The study results will be published in the first half of 2025. 

39 

 
 
 
2.3.7.  Inclusion and integration of people with 

a migrant background in rural areas 

Key deliverables 

The  Commission  has  explored  options  to  build  rural  partnerships  to  promote  social 
inclusion and integration of migrants via the following actions.  

−  Funding under the asylum, migration and integration fund (AMIF) Union Actions 
the  transnational  project  SHARE:  Expanding  Social  Orientation  & 
Integration  for  Newcomers  in  Rural  Areas  (SHARE  SIRA),  which  ended  in 
2023.  
The SHARE SIRA project aimed to build innovative and effective approaches 
to engaging local communities in actions to improve the social orientation of 
newcomers  in  rural  territories  across  Europe.  It  focused  on  creating  positive 
early  integration  outcomes,  engaging  new  stakeholders  and  piloting  new 
approaches  and  building  positive  relationships,  social  networks  and  mutual 
understanding between newcomers and local community members. Coordinated by 
International catholic migration commission (ICMC) Europe’s SHARE Network 
of  Cities  and  Regions  in  partnership  with  the  International  organisation  for 
migration (IOM) and three national partners, the action was implemented in four 
countries, working in 10 predominantly rural regions: 

−  At  the  2022  European  Week  of  Regions  and  Cities  (EWRC),  a  session  on 
“Exploring  partnerships  on  the  inclusion  and  integration  of  migrants  and 
refugees  in  rural  areas”  took  place.    Rural  networks  in  social  inclusion  were 
discussed during this session. Experts from all around Europe could listen to the 
presentations on the connections between inclusion, networks and rural areas, from 
policy and research angles, with interventions from the Commission, the SHARE 
Network and a rural development example from Slovakia. 

Benefits for rural areas 

Exploring  rural  partnerships  in  rural  areas  is  a  core  element  in  the  development  and 
implementation of inclusion and integration policy. The existence, number and quality of 
these  networks  have  a  huge  impact  on  the  integration  of  newcomers,  migrants  and 
refugees. More specifically, the workshop during the EWRC contributed to strengthen the 
synergies between the Action Plans on Inclusion and Integration and the Long-term vision 
for the EU’s rural areas. 

Next steps 

The Commission will continue to involve rural areas when supporting local and regional 
authorities for measures related to migrant integration, such as funding for transnational 
projects  under  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration  Fund  or  actions  taken  in  the 
framework of the Urban Agenda Partnership in the inclusion of migrants. 

40 

 
 
 
2.3.8.  Equal opportunities for children in rural areas 

Key deliverables 

The objective of the European Child Guarantee (ECG) is to prevent and combat social 
exclusion by guaranteeing effective access of children in need to a set of key services. By 
the  end  of  2023,  all  Member  States  had  submitted  their  national  action  plans  for 
implementation of the ECG.￼. Most action plans refer to the rural-urban divide in 
access to key services covered by the ECG. This aspect is most prominent in the action 
plans of Romania, Lithuania, and Croatia. 

As regards rural areas, the 2021 Council recommendation establishing a ECG §6(d) calls 
the Member States to “address the territorial dimension of social exclusion, taking into 
account the specific needs of children according to distinctive urban, rural, remote and 
disadvantaged areas, based on an integrated and multidisciplinary approach”. 

As part of the preparatory action for child guarantee, carried out by UNICEF between July 
2020 and April 2023, several pilot projects were implemented in Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, 
and Italy. In Bulgaria and Croatia, projects included early childhood interventions and 
parenting support in rural areas with sizable Roma communities. More information 
here.  

Benefits for rural areas 

Despite delays in several Member States (mostly due to complex governance structures 
and  consultation  processes  taking  longer  than  expected),  the  implementation  of  ECG 
seems  to  be  on  the  right  track.  In  response  to  Council  recommendation  §6(d),  several 
Member  States  have  planned  policy  measures  targeted  at  children  in  rural  areas. 
Among others are the following. 

-  Bulgaria prioritises children in  rural  areas when improving digital inclusion and 

promoting equal access and availability of online services and connectivity. 

- 

-  Croatia  is  putting  emphasis  on  rural  and  underdeveloped  areas  in  its  efforts  to 
improve  the  primary  health  care  system  and  provide  quality  integrated  health 
services. 
In  Greece,  children  living  in  non-urban,  remote,  rural  and  mountain  areas,  will 
benefit from better internet connection, meant to improve their access to education. 
To improve their access to health, Greece has planned the establishment of mobile 
paediatric,  ophthalmology  and  dental  services  units,  with  adequate  technical 
equipment and staff. 

-  Lithuania  is  updating  its  system  for  the  collection  of  statistical  information  on 
children, with a view to better detect urban-rural disparities and implement relevant 
correctional actions. 

-  Romania focuses on disadvantaged/rural  areas when developing early childhood 
education services and increasing the number of school counsellors and mediators. 

Next steps 

By 15 March 2024, the Member States are expected to report to the Commission on 
their progress in implementing the ECG recommendation. Member States for which 
the urban rural divide is of specific prominence, are expected to report on the topic. 

41 

 
 
 
2.3.9.  Address the needs of people with disabilities in rural areas 

Key deliverables 

In March 2021, the new ‘Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities 2021-2030’ 
was adopted. The strategy highlights that older persons with disabilities living in rural areas 
are  more  prone  to  the  insufficient  provision  of  social  and  health  services.  Besides,  it 
acknowledges that, as the prevalence of disabilities increases with age, older persons living 
in  rural  areas  face  particular  challenges  due  to  a  lack  of  availability  of  appropriate 
healthcare and persistent staff shortages. 

There are several actions for the implementation of the strategy. Those below have paid 
attention to rural areas or have a territorial angle. 

-  Decent quality of life: under independent living, the Commission is working on 
guidance for independent living Member States, that includes good practices in 
rural areas.  

-  The expert group ‘disability platform’ was created to work in closer cooperation 
with  Member  States  and  organisations  of  persons  with  disabilities  in  the 
implementation of the disability strategy. A monitoring of the implementation of 
the actions of the disability strategy is available. 
In  2023,  the  Commission  has  provided  guidance  and  recommendations  to 
Member  States  improvements  on  independent  living  and  inclusion  in  the 
community. 

- 

Promoting the rights of persons with disabilities constitutes a priority for Cohesion Policy. 
Under  policy  objective  4.  The  ERDF  supports  investments,  also  in  rural  areas,  for 
independent living such as housing, day centres, transport that improve access to people 
with disabilities.  The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) supports investments to enhance 
the equal and timely access to quality, sustainable and affordable services in health and 
long-term care. It supports the development of community-based services to facilitate the 
transition from institutional care to these services, including in rural areas. 

Benefits for rural areas 

The Commission supports the implementation of the strategy for the rights of persons with 
disabilities 2021-2030 in Member States, including measures taken to ensure persons 
with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, facilities and services both in 
urban and in rural areas. This will enable persons with disabilities to live independently 
and to fully participate in all aspects of life. 

Next steps 

The  Commission  is  working  on  guidance  recommending  to  Member  States 
improvements on independent living and inclusion in the community, that will include 
examples of promising practices in rural areas. The guidance will be published in 2024. 

Building on the existing voluntary ‘European Quality Framework for Social Services’, the 
Commission  will  present,  by  2024,  a  specific  framework  for  ‘Social  Services  of 
Excellence for persons with disabilities’, to improve service delivery for persons with 
disabilities  and  to  enhance  the  attractiveness  of  jobs  in  this  area  including  through 
upskilling and reskilling of service providers. In addition, later in 2024 the Commission 
will publish a mid-term report on the implementation of the strategy.  

42 

 
 
2.4.  Prosperous 

2.4.1.  Entrepreneurship and the social economy in rural areas 

Key deliverables 

The Commission promotes retail in rural areas by co-creating with a large community 
of  stakeholders  a  pathway  for  a  more  resilient,  digital  and  green  retail  ecosystem. 
Within this process, specific attention is being paid to SMEs retailers in rural areas. Since 
2018,  the  Commission  supports  the  digital  and  green  transition  of  small  retailers 
through  actions  under  #Revitalise  Retail.  In  December  2021,  a  workshop  under  the 
Slovenian Presidency of the Council discussed the digital transition of small retailers with 
a focus on rural areas.  

The  social  economy  action  plan  (SEAP)  was  released  in  December  2021  and  the 
Commission  undertook  a  series  of  actions  which  are  beneficial  also  to  social  economy 
entities and social entrepreneurs in rural areas.  

1.  The  Commission  encourages  Member  States  to  act  in  a  wide  range  of  social 
economy areas via the adoption of the Council recommendation on “developing 
social economy framework conditions”, adopted on 27 November 2023. It recalls 
that social economy can alleviate the consequences of demographic and economic 
challenges  in  remote  and  rural  areas  with  fewer  opportunities  and  encourages 
Member States to support the key role of the social economy in local development.  
2.  In November 2022 the European Commission published the ‘transition pathway 
for the proximity and social economy”. The transition pathway is a co-created 
action  fostering  the  transformation  of  industrial  ecosystems  and  aims  to  enable 
actors in  the ecosystem  to  deliver on the twin  digital  and green  transition while 
fostering  a  more  sustainable  and  resilient  economy  in  the  EU.  For  example,  it 
makes available good practices and success stories.  

3.  The Commission launched in September 2023 a call for proposals under the Single 
Market programme (SMP) that will select up to four projects that will focus on 
supporting  social  economy  initiatives  in  rural  areas  to  ensure  community 
resilience and better living conditions. 

4.  The  social  economy  gateway,  launched  in  June  2023,  is  an  online  platform 
informing  about  EU  funding  programmes  and  resources  for  social  economy 
entities.  

Silicon Vilstal is a non-profit initiative from Lower Bavaria and is part of the ESER 
scheme. It promotes open social innovation  and makes digital  opportunities in rural 
regions  tangible.  Silicon  Vilstal  has  been  awarded  as  one  of  the  ten  best 
entrepreneurship  initiatives  in  Germany  and  is  a  learning  example  for  rural 
entrepreneurs  from  Asia  and  Africa.  Currently,  Silicon  Vilstal  is  also  a  partner  of 
the New European Bauhaus initiative.  

Good  practice  in  the  green  transition:  In  Central  Catalonia,  the  municipality  of 
Saldes wanted to deploy a social economy approach to revive a former mining area. 
Since 2019, the municipality in cooperation with local inhabitants, has been setting up 
a broad alliance for the creation of a local energy cooperative. The cooperative will 
establish and run a solar park producing energy for 42 households and the income of 
the sold surplus will provide a new revenue for the cooperative.  

43 

 
 
 
 
5.  The Commission has also facilitated peer learning, cooperation and community 
building  among  regions  and  local  authorities.  The  European  Social  Economy 
Regions  initiative  has  provided  financial  support  for  mutual  learning  sessions 
involving local authorities and social economy stakeholders.  

Benefits for rural areas 

SMEs  retailers  in  rural  areas  are  important  from  an  economic  viewpoint  in  terms  of 
employment, support to local supply chains and to maintain lively rural environments. The 
actions  taken  by  the  Commission  aim  at  exchanging  best  practices  and  discussing 
success stories of retail SMEs which have managed to embrace the twin digital and green 
transition to allow retailers to get inspiration and diffuse good practices.  

Social  economy  business  models  bring  value  to  local  economies  and  societies  by 
promoting inclusiveness, resilience, and sustainability. They serve local communities, 
retain population and foster local economic activities.  

The  implemented  actions  support  local  economic  development  in  sectors  like 
agriculture,  food  value  chains  and  the  blue  economy.  They  initiatives  fostered  short 
value chains,  climate action and the circular economy, while also contributing to social 
inclusion in rural areas. 

Next steps 

The Commission will keep promoting retail in rural areas:  

-  The  Commission  is  conducting  a  study  on  barriers  to  the  green  and  digital 
transition of SMEs retailers paying specific attention to rural areas. It includes 20 
success stories and Member States’ factsheets with background on the economic 
landscape  and  the  uptake  of  digitalisation  and  sustainability  practices  by  retail 
SMEs with examples in rural areas.  

-  A joint project from the Commission and the OECD will build indicators on the 
competitiveness of retail SMEs at the local level and identify best policy practices. 
Joining forces will allow the sharing of knowledge and dissemination of results to 
a larger audience through peer learning events.  

-  The  creation  of  a  European  Capital  of  Small  Retail.  The  Commission  will 
implement the preparatory action “European Capital of Small Retail” for 2024, to 
showcase cities having supported the green and digital transition of small retailers 
and kept their city centres vibrant.  

The social economy action plan will keep supporting rural areas, by:  

−  Encouraging Member States to set up local social economy contact points within 
Member States. The objective is for them to offer peer-to-peer support in rural 
regions. Their role includes facilitating access to EU and national funding for 
social economy enterprises and liaising with authorities managing EU funds. This 
call on Member States to set up national, local and regional social economy contact 
points was included in the Council recommendation on social economy. 

−  Ensuring  synergies  with  activities  developed  under  the  rural  pact  on  social 

economy, in line with the webinar organised in May 2023. 

−  Publishing  a  study  of  the  benefits  of  embracing  digital  and  green  transition, 

including examples of rural areas under the transition pathway process. 

44 

 
 
2.4.2.  Encouraging  Member  States  to  increase  education,  training  and 
employment  opportunities  for  young  people  in  rural  and  remote 
areas under the Youth guarantee and the European Education Area 

Key deliverables 

Youth guarantee: Member States have continued implementing the reinforced youth 
guarantee at national, regional and local levels. The youth guarantee was reinforced in 
2020 with the aim to alleviate the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis. The follow-up of the 
implementation of the Youth Guarantee is monitored through: 

- 
- 

annual data collection at national level (based on an indicator framework); and  
a review under the Employment Committee (EMCO) every two years. 

The latest  EMCO review on the implementation of the reinforced  youth  guarantee 
took  place  in  November  2023.  The  review  allows  to  follow  the  progress  in  the 
implementation in Member States and is largely based on Member States’ self-assessment 
reports.  

Reaching out to young people in rural and remote areas and offering services to them has 
been acknowledged as an important issue to tackle. Even though the EMCO review has 
shown  positive  developments  in  some  Member  States,  offering  employment  and  social 
services for young people in rural and remote areas remains a challenge in most Member 
States.  

European Education Area (EEA): The EEA aims to remove 
barriers to learning and improving access to quality education 
for all. There are different actions under the EEA contributing 
to rural areas:  

Dedicated 
content on 
school 
education 
in rural 
areas 

-  On  November  29,  2021, 
the  Council  adopted  a 
recommendation on blended learning approaches for high-
quality  and  inclusive  primary  and  secondary  education. 
The recommendation recognises  that access  to  schools must 
be guaranteed, and that blended learning approaches are an 
opportunity for rural and remote areas.  
-  Finally, 
the  Council 
28, 
on  November 
success, 
recommendation  on  pathways 
acknowledged specific challenges for rural and remote areas. It also emphasised the need 
of equal access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for rural and remote 
areas.  

2022, 
to 

school 

The implementation of recommendations is done the via the working groups with the 
Member States on different topics.  

The working group on equality and values in education and training took place in Paris 
(France) in December 2022 and focused on the theme of ‘addressing social and territorial 
inequalities in and through education’. It touched upon the rural-urban divide in terms 
of  educational  inequalities,  as  both  urban  and  rural  schools  come  with  their  specific 
challenges. 

45 

 
 
 
Benefits for rural areas 

The reinforced youth guarantee focuses on disadvantaged young people, including those 
who do not yet have access to necessary services. This is particularly important in rural 
areas, where the implementation of the Youth Guarantee can significantly benefit young 
people. The current indicator framework monitors progress at national level, however, the 
biennial EMCO reviews offer a possibility to capture progress on specific issues. Some 
targeted  questions,  for  example  on  rural  circumstances,  are  usually  included  in  these 
EMCO reviews. In addition, Eurostat gathers data on different aspects of rural youth.  

Working towards a European Education Area by 2025, the Commission is collaborating 
with  Member  States  via  working  groups  to  foster  the  quality  and  inclusiveness  of 
national education and training systems, which will have an impact on rural and remote 
areas. They enable the exchange of good practices, for example on blended learning and 
inclusive education. 

The following tools support the work of the EEA in rural areas:  

- 

-  The  European  School  Education  Platform  is  the  central  online  hub  for  school 
education  professionals.  It  features  dedicated  content  on  school  education  in 
rural areas, including good practices, articles, and expert opinions.   
In addition, eTwinning – the online community for teachers – includes a priority 
on rural and outermost areas of Europe. A discussion group on small/remote 
and rural schools was launched end of 2022 to help small schools share practice 
examples,  discuss  teaching  and  learning  methodologies  and  find  support  for 
professional development. 

The  Working  Group  on  Equality  and  Values  in  Education  and  Training  addressed 
territorial  inequalities  in  education,  focusing  on  challenges  faced  by  urban  and  rural 
schools, such as poverty, segregation, and limited resources. Concerns were raised about 
teacher shortages and lack of access to extracurricular activities for young people. 
Digital tools like hybrid learning and online platforms were seen as solutions, but reliable 
internet, devices, and digital skills are needed. Balancing online and offline learning was 
emphasised for effective implementation in remote areas. 

46 

 
  
 
Next steps 

Youth Guarantee: 

The  horizontal  and  the  country-specific  conclusions  from  the  November  2023  EMCO 
review of Member States’ progress in implementing the reinforced Youth Guarantee are 
planned to be endorsed by the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer affairs 
(EPSCO) Council in 2024.  

European Education Area: 

The interim  evaluation  of the EEA  planned in  2025,  will cover  all key elements of the 
overall approach to developing the EEA set out by the 2020 EEA Communication and the 
2021 Council resolutions and reviewed by the 2022 EEA progress report: 

strategic priorities for reform and European cooperation;  

- 
-  EU-level EEA-actions to support Member States in implementation; 
-  mobilisation of EU funds for national reforms in line with EEA objectives; and 
- 
-  EU-level targets and indicators to measure progress. 

reformed governance (EEA strategic framework) for cooperation and co-creation; 

47 

 
 
2.4.3.  Development of a sustainable bioeconomy, including 

the EU forest strategy and the carbon faming initiative 

Key deliverables 

The key deliverables below can be highlighted: 

-  The Commission published the progress report on the EU bioeconomy strategy 
in June 2022 and organised an EU high-level Bioeconomy Conference in October 
2022. 

-  The Commission adopted the EU forest strategy in July 2021 with a number of 
actions to support forest owners and managers in the EU and provide new business 
opportunities. 

-  The European CAP Network set up of a thematic working group to promote a 
network  of  forest-dominant  rural  areas  and  municipalities.  In  2023,  two 
meetings took place (16 March 2023 and 31 May 2023). 

-  The  Commission  proposed  the  R&I  partnership  “Forests  and  forestry  for  a 
sustainable future” in  December 2023. It is  a research and innovation-oriented 
transdisciplinary  instrument  that  supports  the  EU  forest  strategy  simultaneously 
with climate targets and the biodiversity strategy. 

-  Under  Horizon  Europe,  the  Commission  has  set  up  the  Circular  Bio-based 
Europe (CBE JU) partnership, the successor of the Bio-based Industries Joint 
Undertaking (BBI JU), to advance the competitive and circular bioeconomy. The 
partnership plays a central role in developing inclusive business models that better 
integrate  primary  producers  and  other  rural  actors  in  novel  and  bio-based  value 
chains. 

-  The Commission adopted a proposal for the EU regulatory framework on carbon 
removal  in  November  2022,  introducing  carbon  removal  certificates  and 
contributing  to  carbon storage, including the bioeconomy  (for more actions,  see 
under flagship on carbon farming). 

-  The  Commission  approved  the  28  CAP  strategic  plans  by  end  of  2022,  which 
started  their  implementation  from  1  January  2023.  Depending  on  the  Member 
States’ needs, and strategic choices targeted funding is provided for sustainable 
land and forest management practices and investments and cooperation related to 
bioeconomy, forestry and carbon farming. 

48 

 
 
 
Benefits for rural areas 

EU-level actions are benefiting rural areas by creating new business opportunities and 
jobs  in the bioeconomy sector. The EU certification methodology  for  carbon removal 
will support the development of voluntary markets for carbon credits in the land sector, as 
well as provide additional income for land managers.   

The  thematic  group  on  forest-dominant  rural  areas  and  municipalities  provided 
opportunities  for  networking  and  representation  among  rural  stakeholders,  local 
authorities and researchers.  

Under  the  CAP,  the  ongoing  promotion  and  support  for  sustainable  land  and  forest 
management  practices  and  for  investments  and  cooperation  related  to  bioeconomy  and 
carbon removals contribute to the development of rural areas and can provide new business 
opportunities and jobs. Around 140 000 rural businesses are expected to receive support 
by 2029 and land managers are incentivised to store carbon in soil and biomass and reduce 
emissions on 35% of the EU’s agricultural area through appropriate management practices, 
such as extensive grassland management, growing of leguminous and catch-crops, organic 
fertilisation or agroforestry.   

With  regard  to  forestry  related  measures  under  the  CAP,  a  budget  of  approximately 
EUR 4 billion for the period 2014-2022 was provided and a similar amount is expected to 
be allocated to forestry interventions in the period 2023-27. 

Next steps 

In relation to the bioeconomy strategy, the Commission organised a conference on 13-14 
March 2024 whose title was “Bioeconomy changemakers Festival”.  

Monitoring  of the CAP Strategic Plans is  necessary as the implementation has recently 
begun, and data on the impact of actions on rural areas will become available in the future.  

49 

 
 
 
2.4.4.  Strengthen producer organisations of geographical indications 

Key deliverables 

Local producers play a vital role in strengthening the social fabric and improving the 
standard of living in rural areas, and geographical indications (GIs) represent a valuable 
opportunity  for  employment  and  economic  development,  benefiting  trade,  income  and 
local tourism. 

The European Commission has registered more than 3 500 product names as GIs (171 
new GIs since June 2021) and foresees the adoption of a Regulation on European Union 
geographical  indications  for  wine,  spirit  drinks  and  agricultural  products,  and  quality 
schemes  for  agricultural  products  in  2024.  The  objectives  of  the  Regulation  include, 
amongst  others,  to  promote  fair  competition,  ensure  a  fair  income  for  producers  and 
contribute to rural development policy objectives. 

The Commission has organised mini-conferences to promote the benefits of GIs, and has 
been  developing  a  web-based  toolkit  for  GI  producers,  and  maintained  active 
communication with GI producers through fairs, events and specific outreach initiatives 
(e.g. Food for Europe podcasts). 

Benefits for rural areas 

The increasing number of registered GIs in Europe positively impacts the economic and 
social  sustainability  of  rural  areas  by  ensuring  fair  income  for  farmers,  facilitating 
diversification activities, and creating employment.  

With  more  than  3500  GIs  registered  by  the  reporting  date,  including  a  yearly  average 
increase of more than 65 new GI names, an analysis by the Joint Research Centre of the 
European  Commission  indicates  a  positive  effect  on  the  economic  performance  of  the 
agricultural sector, particularly for registered food products and rural areas. (26) 

Next steps 

Introducing targeted technical assistance opportunities within the strategic programming 
of  rural  development  interventions,  and  specifically  related  to  the  actions  on  quality 
schemes and cooperation measures, would be beneficial in assisting farmers and producers 
to establish producer groups, develop product specifications and launch GI applications. 

The GI review process aims to help strengthening the position of producers in the value 
chain, notably by promoting fair competition in the marketing chain and a fair income for 
producers.  Given  that  producer  groups  play  an  essential  role  in  the  application  and 
management of geographical indications, the review process clarifies the role of producers 
and  empowers  them  to  better  enforce  their  intellectual  property  rights  against  unfair 
practices,  in  particular  in  relation  to  protection  of  GIs  in  the  online  environment. 

The Commission will keep organising mini-conferences to address the role of producer 
organisations and their contribution to rural development to promote the adoption of GIs. 

(26)  https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC135467 

50 

 
 
 
2.5.  Horizontal actions 

2.5.1.  Rural proofing 

Key deliverables 

The European Commission committed to put in place a rural proofing mechanism as part 
of the “Better regulation” agenda, to assess the impact of major EU legislative initiatives 
on rural areas. The Commission has revised its better regulation guidelines, in November 
2021, which include the following provisions:  

- the assessment of any significant impact on territorial and rural issues when 
developing an initiative; 

- the gathering of evidence from various types of territories when consulting 
stakeholders on the development of these initiatives. 

The Commission also provided its line Directorates-General (DGs) services with tools to 
guide them, including tools to identify potential impacts when evaluating the necessity for 
territorial  impact  assessments  (TIA)  and  tools  to  conduct  these.  These  rural  proofing 
provisions  applied  to  all  legislative  initiatives  requiring  impact  assessments  throughout 
2022 and 2023, nine of which the rural vision team in DG AGRI and DG REGIO followed 
more closely, based on a screening of the annual Commission work programme. 

In addition, the Commission guided its services on how to explore implications for rural 
communities in more qualitative ways when developing initiatives that do not introduce 
new rules or new funding instruments, such as communications or proposals for Council 
recommendations, and therefore do not require impact assessments but may prepare the 
ground  for  future  legislation.  15  initiatives  have  been  flagged  for  this  more  qualitative 
rural proofing over 2022 and 2023. 

The  Commission  also  encouraged  national  and  regional  governments  which  do  not 
have  rural  proofing  in  place  to  create  rural  proofing  mechanisms  for  their  own 
legislative activities, with success in some countries (e.g. Spain). It facilitated exchange 
of best practices through an ENRD thematic group on rural proofing (March-June 2022) 
that produced a rural proofing framework. It interacted with the Committee of the Regions 
on its approaches to rural proofing and with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation 
and Development (OECD) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) on “rural proofing 
for health”. 

Benefits for rural areas 

The conduct of a full territorial impact assessment did not come out as necessary in any 
of the legislative initiatives developed by the European Commission in the course of 2022 
and 2023. However, territorial impacts (including for rural areas) were considered when 
revising  the  waste  framework  directive,  when  developing  a  framework  for  income 
taxation in the EU, and a directive on activities of cross-border associations among 
other proposals still under preparation. In all these cases, the provisions included in the law 
were not considered likely to impact rural areas more than others.  

51 

 
 
When implemented early enough in the development of the initiative, the more qualitative 
approach  applied  for  initiatives  not  undergoing  impact  assessments  delivered  tangible 
benefits for rural areas through: 

- the better recognition of rural specificities and opportunities in texts such as 
the ‘Strategy for the EU’s outermost regions’, the ‘European care strategy’ and 
associated proposal for a ‘Council recommendation on long-term care’, the revised 
‘State  aid  guidelines 
for  broadband  networks’,  proposals  for  Council 
recommendations  on  ‘Improving  the  provision  of  digital  skills  in  education  and 
training’  and  on  ‘Enabling  factors  for  digital  education’,  the  Communication 
‘Harnessing  talents  in  Europe’s  regions’,  the  communication  ‘A  comprehensive 
approach to mental health’, the proposal for a ‘Council recommendation on social 
economy framework conditions’ and the ‘Communication on the learning mobility 
framework’; 

- the formulation of specific actions  to improve the situation of rural areas, 
such as but not limited to requesting the collection of more granular data on rural 
areas, the need to provide capacity building activities and the need for investment 
in connectivity. 

Although  these  are  non-legislative  initiatives,  the  fact  rural  areas  and  needs  tend  to  be 
mentioned more often than before is likely to materialise in positive developments at later 
stages if and when legislative action is taken. Experience has shown that succeeding  at 
rural  proofing  requires  efficient  coordination  and  communication  mechanisms  that 
enable identifying the initiatives to rural proof at an early stage. It requires data to support 
the identification of challenges and opportunities linked to the initiative. Finally, it also 
requires building capacities of the services to understand how the future initiative would 
unfold  in  a  rural  context  and  adapt  the  proposed  actions  to  improve  their  relevance  for 
these rural contexts. 

Next steps 

The Commission will keep using the rural proofing mechanism for its own regulatory 
process.  It  also  aims  at  improving  coordination  and  strengthening  capacities  of  the 
Commission services to carry out rural proofing, also for non-legislative initiatives, with 
the aim of integrating rural issues in EU policy making. Rural proofing will benefit from 
the  improvement  of  rural  statistics  and  data  and  from  the  development  of  the  EU  rural 
observatory.  The  Commission  will  also  keep  up  dialogue  with  Member  States  on  the 
development of rural proofing mechanisms at national and regional levels, building on the 
framework developed by the ENRD thematic group on rural proofing at national, regional 
and local levels and on Council conclusions on the LTVRA which call to strengthen rural 
proofing at all levels. On 30 November 2023, the Council approved conclusions on the 
Future of Cohesion Policy, calling for general awareness of “doing no harm to Cohesion” 
and inviting the Commission to make wide use of TIAs in legislative proposals to address 
territorial  impacts  on  regions.  The  Commission  will  also  keep  interacting  with 
international organisations such as the OECD and the World Health Organisation on issues 
related to rural proofing. 

52 

 
 
 
2.5.2.  Rural observatory 

Key deliverables 

The rural observatory is an online platform launched on 8 December 2022 and accessible 
from  the  rural  vision  website.  It  aims  to  make  available  data,  support  knowledge 
production and disseminate quantitative information and analyses related to EU’´s rural 
areas.  This  is  achieved  by  collecting,  producing  and  analysing  indicators  related  to 
economic, social and environmental dimensions, at the highest granularity available (sub- 
regional,  municipal  and  grid  level  at  1  km2  resolution).  It  serves  as  a  data  platform 
providing  access  to  a  broad  collection  of  rural  indicators  and  offering  attractive 
visualisations (interactive graphs and maps). The rural observatory also releases scientific 
publications with elaborated analyses focusing on prominent rural topics.   

Three main tools are available in the rural observatory: 

- 

“Rural focus”, which displays how rural areas compare to cities;  

Onshore wind production 

- 

“My place”, which provides a 360 degrees overview of Member States, regions, 
sub-regions and municipalities; 

- 

“Trends”, which offers a map showing the evolution of a specific indicator over 
time.  

53 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The rural observatory showcases 35 indicators by 
degree of urbanisation (under “Rural focus”), 70 
indicators  at  the  regional  level,  32  indicators  at 
the  sub-regional  level,  11  indicators  at  the 
municipality level and several thematic analyses 
(‘Rural Europe’, challenges and opportunities in 
remote rural  areas, definition of functional  rural 
areas  in  the  EU,  renewable  energies  in  rural 
areas). 

Benefits for rural areas 

The rural observatory helps in understanding  how rural areas perform and how they 
compare to one another and to cities as well as towns and suburbs, highlighting areas 
that require policy focus. It also provides scientific knowledge and data to support rural 
proofing, which should lead in fine to legislation and policies working better in rural 
areas. Since its launch in December 2022, the Rural Observatory has been accessed by 
more than 5 000 visitors, generating more than 61 000 page views. 

Next steps 

The observatory will continue its work on:  

- 
- 

Improvement of functionalities based on feedback from users and stakeholders. 
Inclusion  of  more  relevant  indicators  from  the  Eurostat  database  and  other 
databases–  with  particular  focus  on  those  available  by  degree  of  urbanisation 
(around 200 available).  

-  Production  of  more  indicators  at  the  municipality  level  and  by  degree  of 
urbanisation, downscaling to the sub-regional level of indicators available at the 
regional level (where this is deemed feasible). 

In  2024,  the  focus  of  research  activities  will  be  on  interactions  between  economy  and 
demography, as well as on housing and energy efficiency. 

54 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2.5.3.  Enhancing availability of statistics on rural areas 

This section is split up into four different sub-actions. 

2.5.3.1. Making available new detailed data collected in the framework of 

the 2021 round of population and housing censuses in the EU  

Key deliverables 

Data from the 2021 population and housing censuses on total population at the level of 
a standard Europe-wide 1km2 grid were published on 30 March 2023. Data are available 
for  all  EU  Member  States  and  three  EFTA  countries  (excluding  Iceland).  A  series  of 
interactive maps and visualisations is also available.  

Preliminary population data with a breakdown by age and sex at the level of NUTS3 
regions  were  also  published  for  all  EU  Member  States  except  Ireland  and  all  EFTA 
countries on 30 March 2023. This data can be accessed via the Eurostat Data Browser (see 
Eurostat datasets [cens_21ag] and [cens_21agr3]). 

Benefits for rural areas 

The population and housing census provides a valuable source of information on the size, 
demographic 
citizenship,  migration 
characteristics  and  housing  of  the  population,  households  and  families.  Data  are 
available at national and regional levels down to local administrative unit (LAU). 

employment, 

education, 

structure, 

The  2021  EU  census  programme  is  the  first  for  which  data  is  also  disseminated  on  a 
mandatory basis for a common Europe-wide 1 km2 grid. The population grid data allows  
to conduct analyses to be made for flexibly defined areas that are not possible with statistics 
for NUTS or LAU areas. There are advantages for rural and other sparsely populated areas. 
For example, it is possible to define areas that are more than a certain distance away from 
facilities and services such as hospitals or transport hubs or for the work on functional rural 
areas. Areas for analysis can be defined to meet specific user needs, including areas that 
cut across regional or national boundaries. The grid data allows population numbers to be 
shown, as well as population densities. 

55 

 
 
Next steps 

The complete data from the 2021 EU census programme will be published in the second 
quarter  of  2024.  This  will  include  detailed  data  on  persons,  households,  families  and 
dwellings for regions and municipalities. At the same time, further population grid data 
will be released, with  selected data on  age, sex,  country of birth, place of residence 12 
months ago, and, as far as possible, employment for a 1km2 grid.  

Data will be available as a series of pre-defined tables on the Eurostat Data Browser 
and via the Census Hub – an online tool that allows users to prepare detailed customised 
tables in real time. Grid data will be accessible online in a format suitable for further user 
analysis  using  Geographic  Information  System  software.  These  online  outputs  will  be 
complemented  by  thematic  Statistics  Explained  articles  on  the  2021  population  and 
housing census. 

56 

 
 
 
2.5.3.2. Developing Pan-European geospatial datasets 

Key deliverables  

Eurostat has published datasets based on: 

a)  experimental  data  collection 

for  healthcare  and  education 

services 

(2023 hospitals geo-localisation and 2023 primary schools geo-localisation);  

b)  an annually updated data collection of addresses providing a geocoding services– 

the European register of addresses; and 

c)  population distribution on the 1km2 grid basis. 

Benefits for rural areas 

Grid-based  population  distribution  and  the  consecutive  update  of  the  degree  of 
urbanisation  enables  the  production  of  statistics  and  other  descriptive  and  analytical 
indicators specifically focused on rural areas, when relevant. 

This  strongly  improves  the  analysis  of  the  differences  or  impact  in  terms  of 
development of rural areas (e.g. vs urban areas) and hence can support the development 
of policies and programmes better adapted to rural areas (rural proofing). 

Similarly,  the  datasets  on  education  and  healthcare  facilities  allow  the  production  and 
publication  of  statistics  on  accessibility  of  health  (hospitals)  and  education  services 
(schools),  providing  detailed  information  on  key  aspects  for  the  quality  of  life  of  rural 
areas. 

Next steps 

Grid-based  statistics  and  other  geospatial  products  need  continuous  updates,  Eurostat 
GISCO aims at annual updates to these datasets.  Eurostat will continue the developments 
in the field, to support the production of the data infrastructure allowing a detailed and 
specific analysis of the situation in all aspects of life within the EU, at various levels of 
action (EU, Member State, regional, local), including in rural areas. Eurostat continues its 
work to develop and update geospatial data infrastructure based on pan-EU core data sets: 
administrative units, addresses, buildings, parcels, transport networks.  

Based  on  the  new  1km2  population  grid  (2021),  a  new  NUTS  2024  urban/rural 
classification, a new dataset for urban/rural clusters, and a new definition for degree 
of urbanisation level 2 covering the extent of the grid (which defines rural areas on a 
more granular basis) will be available by 2024. 

57 

 
 
 
2.5.3.1.Modernising  the  legal  framework  for  EU  demographic  and 

housing statistics.  

Key deliverables 

The evaluation and impact assessment of European statistics on population and housing 
(ESOP)  was  finalised  in  April  2022.  On  20  January  2023  the  Commission  adopted  the 
proposal  for  a  new  framework  Regulation  on  European  statistics  on  population  and 
housing (COM(2023) 31).  

Benefits for rural areas 

The  evaluation  and  impact  assessment,  supported  by  the  findings  from  the  stakeholder 
consultation, have pinpointed the current statistical gaps in demography and migration 
statistics regarding rural areas. This includes a lack of clear delineation between rural 
and urban areas across the statistics published, but also a lack of infra-annual statistics 
to trace seasonal variations of relevant population trends such as migration to rural areas 
or internal mobility between rural and urban areas. 

The  Commission  proposal  for  a  new  legal  framework  acknowledges  these  gaps  and 
includes effective provisions to enable improved European statistics in the future. For 
instance, the proposal includes semestrial publications of population stocks and quarterly 
publications on international immigration, in addition to richer annual and multi-annual 
statistics including at municipality (LAU) and at 1 km2 grid level. The proposed framework 
would also provide the flexibility to classify most of the statistics at low geographic detail 
(NUTS  3  or  below,  incl.  by  degree  of  urbanisation)  and  to  capture  internal  mobility 
between regions and from rural to urban areas. 

Next steps 

The  Commission  proposal  for  a  new  framework  regulation  has  entered  the  ordinary 
legislative procedure and the European Parliament and the Council are now discussing it. 
In parallel, Eurostat has started an in-depth collaboration with statistical experts from the 
Member States to already prepare implementing rules for data collections under the 
expected new framework. This will minimise the delay between adopting the new legal 
framework and publishing the first new statistics. 

58 

 
 
 
 
2.5.3.2. Mainstreaming the degree of urbanisation  

Key deliverables  

Twice  
more 
than in 
indicators 
2021 

Eurostat enriched the data offer by increasing the number 
of datasets using the degree of urbanisation classification 
which is a typology that classifies local administrative units 
(municipalities,  communes,  parishes  or  wards,  etc.).  The 
datasets  are  related  to  health,  lifelong  learning,  education, 
living  conditions,  welfare,  labour  market,  tourism,  digital 
economy  and  society.  There  is  a  dedicated  page  listing  all 
datasets by degree of urbanisation for easy user access.  

Eurostat  released  a  specialised  publication  titled  ‘Rural 
Europe’  in  January  2023,  focusing  on  rural  areas  and  rural 
regions. The publication consists of nine chapters: education and training, labour market, 
income  and  living  conditions,  digital  society,  economy,  demographic  developments, 
women and men, and quality of life. The publication was promoted by a number of news 
articles  that  were  released  on  the  Eurostat  website  and  on  all  Eurostat  social  media 
platforms, featuring: Income gender gap; and digital skills divide. 

Benefits for rural areas  

Eurostat with its publication on Rural Europe and activities related to the promotion of the 
publication  increased  the  visibility  of  the  data  on  rural  regions  and  rural  areas  and 
highlighted some opportunities but also challenges of people living in rural regions and 
rural areas. This is of utmost importance for the policy making processes related to rural 
areas  in  the  EU.  For  example,  indicators  on  demographic  developments  indicate  that 
almost nine out of ten predominantly rural regions of the EU reported negative crude rates 
of natural population change during the period 2015–2020. 

Next steps 

Eurostat held several stakeholder consultations where it received feedback on the Rural 
Europe publication. These will be taken into consideration in the next edition. 

The list of indicators by degree of urbanisation will further expand as new datasets become 
available. 

The update of the degree of urbanisation classification, based on the results of the 2021 
population census, is planned for 2024. 

The  proposed  new  framework  European  statistics  on  population  and  housing 
(section 2.5.3.3)  aims  to  provide  flexibility  for  future  demographic  and  census  data 
collections to classify most of the statistics by degree of urbanisation.  

59 

 
 
 
2.5.4.   Defining functional rural areas 

Key deliverables 

The Commission has worked in several steps to define functional rural areas:   

The  draft  methodology  for  defining  functional  rural  areas  was  developed  and  first 
presented during the Rural pact conference in June 2022.  

A  paper  presenting  this  methodology,  forming  part  of  the  analytical  work  of  the  Rural 
observatory, was circulated for comments inside and outside the European Commission in 
early 2023, including with the European Spatial Planning Observatory Network (ESPON), 
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank 
(WB) and Horizon Europe projects RUSTIK and GRANULAR.   

A  revised  paper  was  submitted  to  the  3rd  European  rural  geographies  conference  in 
Groningen (NL) in June 2023. It was also presented to the OECD working party on rural 
development, to the EUROSTAT working group on regional statistics and the Regional 
Studies Winter Conference, all three in November 2023.   

This consultation of a wide range of stakeholders has helped to refine and better target the 
method.   

The resulting final paper “Developing a definition of Functional Rural Areas in the EU” 
was published on 23 November 2023. The result of this methodology can be visualised on 
a public website: FRAs Demo (Experimental)  

Benefits for rural areas 

The goal of functional rural areas is to better capture demographic change and access 
to  services  in  areas  that  differ  from  administrative  boundaries  of  municipalities,  which 
vary a lot in size across EU countries and limit possibilities to analyse and compare trends 
across Europe. The idea is to capture and delineate areas within which rural people live, to 
support the design of adequate and improved policies, in particular in the field of service 
delivery. 

Next steps 

Tests leading  to  the current  version of the methodology  have been carried out  with  the 
population  grid for 2011, but  the final  method will  be applied to  a  range of population 
grids, including the population grid for 2021, to see how these geographies have changed 
over time.  

The  Commission  will  continue  working  and  further  refining  the  methodology,  in 
dialogue with partners, such as national statistical offices, scientists working on functional 
geographies (e.g.: GRANULAR and RUSTIK), the World Bank and the OECD. An OECD 
project on functional rural areas financed by the Commission has started in the second half 
of 2023. It will test the value of the approach for non-EU OECD countries. 

60 

 
 
 
2.5.5.  Propose a rural pact  

Key deliverables (end of February 2024) 

The rural pact is a framework for cooperation at the European, national, regional and 
local level to achieve the shared goals of the long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas by 
facilitating interaction on rural matters between all concerned players: public authorities, 
civil society, businesses, academia and citizens. By involving all the stakeholders and all 
governance levels, the pact contributes substantially to the holistic approach towards rural 
communities. To launch and develop this rural pact, the Commission has: 

- 

- 

launched in December 2021, the creation of the rural pact community, strong of 
over 2 350 members, grouping all the individuals and entities willing to contribute; 
-  worked  collaboratively  with  other  EU  institutions,  stakeholders  and  the  rural 
pact community in the first semester of 2022 to develop an operational proposal 
that was endorsed at the rural pact conference on 15 and 16 June 2022, attended 
by 475 people; 
created an inter-institutional online space for the rural vision and rural pact 
launched  in  December  2022  (170 000 views),  completed  in  June  2023  with  the 
rural pact community platform, twinned with the rural revitalisation platform, and 
providing a common space to collaborate; 
set up a “Rural Pact Support Office”, contracted for three years (December 2022 to 
December 2025) to facilitate activities of the rural pact community and expand it 
(meeting with 20 other networks and participating in 28 stakeholders’ events); 
- 
set up in June 2023 a Rural Pact Coordination Group to steer and govern the pact;  
-  worked collaboratively with successive presidencies of the Council to mobilise 
Member  States  around  the  Rural  Pact  (conferences  in  Uppsala  and  Sigüenza), 
ending with the adoption of Council conclusions on 20 November 2023. 

- 

Benefits for rural areas 

According to its three objectives, the rural pact is expected to have the impacts below. 

-  Amplifying  the  voice  of  rural  people  and  making  them  better  heard  in 
policymaking:  the  launch  of  the  rural  pact  at  EU  level  has  already  led  several 
national and regional governments to adopt new rural Pacts, laws or agendas (e.g. 
Czechia, Catalonia) and/or to enter in a reflection on what to improve. Activities 
largely contributed to the adoption of Council conclusions in November 2023 that 
invite all Member States to engage in the pact. 

-  Structuring  and  enabling  networking,  collaboration  &  mutual  learning:  the 
rural  pact  events  and  activities  made  over  2 350  people  benefit  from  monthly 
information, learn from nine publications, interact and exchange in seven events 
and seven online community groups and learn from 40 good practices. 

-  Encouraging  voluntary  commitments  to  act  for  the  vision:  since  the 

endorsement of the Pact, around 120 commitments have been received. 

Next steps  

Next  steps  include  sustaining  the  facilitation  efforts  in  2024  and  2025  through  the 
Rural  Pact  Support  Office  and exploring ways to  continue  after that  (prolongation of 
Rural Pact Support Office, evolution of the rural pact governance, further development of 
the collaborative platform, coordination with other initiatives). After a first year putting 

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priority on the national level, efforts in 2024 will be directed to local level actors (see the 
report on the LTVRA key achievements and ways forward for more information). 

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2.5.6.  Rural funding toolkit  

Key deliverables 

The Rural toolkit is the comprehensive guide to EU funding and support opportunities 
for rural areas in the European Union. It aims to help local authorities, institutions and 
stakeholders, businesses and individuals to identify and take advantage of existing EU 
funds, programmes and other funding and support initiatives, and to foster development 
in rural territories. It shows how initiatives and practices supported by EU funding schemes 
and policies can help rural communities revitalise their territories.  

All Directorates General and Agencies of the Commission were surveyed, as well as the 
European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Investment Fund (EIF), to identify which 
of the instruments and support mechanisms can be relevant for rural authorities and local 
stakeholders.  

rural 

European 

In order to validate the platform design, 
two workshops with representatives from 
key 
stakeholder 
associations were organised, one in June 
2023 (in DG REGIO) and one in October 
2023  (during  the  European  Week  of 
Regions and Cities). The aim was to test 
the  user-friendliness  of  the  tool  and  its 
completeness. These led to a continuous 
the  platform  also 
improvement  of 
identification  of 
comprehending 
some  additional 
(e.g. 
auto-translation  in  all  EU  languages, 
demo  video  explaining  and  promoting 
the tool, etc.) 

functionalities 

the 

The  rural  toolkit  was  launched  on  6 
February 2024, and it is available via this 
link:  

https://rural-vision.europa.eu/toolkit 

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Benefits for rural areas 

By  applying  the  rural  lens,  several  funds  and  programmes,  both  directly  managed 
instruments at the European level and those in shared management with the EU Member 
States, were selected for the Toolkit.  

The  ‘Funding  finder’  section  is  structured  with  search  filters  on  the  different 
potential beneficiaries, activities and types of support. The search shows fiches for each 
fund, funding programme and instrument, placing particular emphasis in explaining why 
they are relevant for rural areas. 

In the ‘Inspire yourself’ section, the platform offers practical examples where rural 
local authorities or stakeholders successfully used such funds for rural revitalisation.  

The  ‘Resources’  section  offers  available  guidance  on  the  integrated  approach  to  local 
development and examples of funding guides on multiple topics relevant for such rural 
areas. In the home page these is a short promotional video that explains the objectives and 
potentialities of the tool. Such video has been designed also in a vertical format to be shared 
through social media.  

Note: The rural toolkit provides practical information, examples and direct links to existing 
support schemes, but funding applications must be submitted via the official webpages of 
each initiative.  

Next steps 

This action is completed. 

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