Debate: Long-term vision for rural areas
Date: THURSDAY, 11 MARCH 2021
Speaker: Janusz Wojciechowski
Language: EN

Unfortunately, in the current Regional Development Fund regulation, adopted in 2013, the word ‘urban’ was mentioned 46 times, while the word ‘rural’ was only mentioned five times, and always in relation with urban. Fortunately, we can see some progress in the recently-agreed Common Provisions Regulation, where a reference to rural and local has been introduced. There is a growing perception that the role and importance of rural areas is underappreciated: 56 percent of the respondents in remote rural areas felt left behind by society. This needs to be addressed in light of our overall EU objectives for rural areas. The European Union needs to get closer to its rural citizens. This is precisely the purpose of the Long-Term Vision, which I will be developing together with my colleague, Commissioner Ferreira, and under the supervision of Vice-President Šuica. The Vision is intended to provide an ambitious, yet realistic, idea of how Europe wants its rural areas to look by 2040. About the question of how the Commission will ensure coherence between the CAP and other policies involved in developing our long-term vision for rural areas, as announced in our Communication on the Vision for mid-2021, we will translate our goals into a number of actions that can enhance the synergies of our policies and of our funding instruments to support rural areas. We have identified the concept of rural proofing, drawing on territorial impact assessments and better monitoring of rural areas as key actions for the future. Europe has made full use of its policies and funds in supporting the development of rural areas in a coherent manner to make sure that all of them pull in the same direction. Last June, I, together with Vice-President Šuica and Commissioner Ferreira, sent out a letter to Member States asking them to fully and coherently use the possibilities under all policies supporting the development of rural areas and to ensure that the specific needs of rural areas are duly taken into account, both under the cohesion policy programmes and under the CAP strategic plans. In December, as a part of our CAP recommendations to Member States, we stated that addressing the structural challenges and inducing favourable dynamics across rural areas will require mobilising a mix of public and private resources and initiatives, using the CAP as well as other European policies and funds. More recently, the Commission provided Member States with guidelines to support them in the preparation of the recovery and resilience plans to assist Member States in preparing their plans. Our main target should be social and territorial cohesion. As mentioned in the plan, we have been very clear that Member States should seek compatibility and possible synergy in their recovery plans. As a part of our guidelines, we ask that Member States should outline how their plans will contribute to enhancing cohesion, taking into account local, regional and national disparities, including their rural—urban gaps. In particular, we stated to Member States that investing in rural areas through a long—term vision will stimulate urgently-needed economic growth in those areas and contribute to reducing the digital divide. I’m happy to inform you that, from a preliminary assessment of some of the draft plans, it seems most Member States will follow the Commission’s advice. Member States are at different stages of preparation, but we already see some good examples of planned investments in the agricultural bioeconomy, agri—food chains and forestry. Several instruments also foreseen for rural areas are broadband, health and local communities as well as rural transport accessibility. About the question of how the CAP, which is currently being negotiated, and particularly strategic plans, will be harmonised with the future vision for rural areas, the CAP strategic plans will help us to address issues such as generational renewal in agriculture and rural business development, which are key for the future of rural areas. It is important to underline once again that the CAP alone cannot address the challenges faced by rural areas, and the vision goes beyond agriculture. And the last question about how the Commission intends to draw a proper and treaty—compatible distinction between funding for rural areas under CAP and under cohesion policy, taking into account the objectives of Articles 39 and 174 of the Treaty: rather than a focus on distinction and delimitation between funding under the CAP and cohesion policy, the Commission is addressing how to improve synergies and complementarities between funds to better address the specific and very diverse needs of rural areas. I would like to give you one example on complementarity. Farmers who supply the short supply chain should be supported through the CAP, whereas the processing industry should be supported through the recovery fund. Member States should also consider using the Recovery and Resilience Fund to accelerate reforms and address the challenges faced by rural areas, including those posed by demographic change, and making them better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions.