On 30 June 2021, the European Commission put forward a long-term Vision for the EU's rural areas, identifying the challenges and concerns that they are facing, as well as highlighting some of the most promising opportunities that are available to these regions.
Based on a foresight exercise and wide consultations with citizens as well as other actors in rural areas, the Vision proposes a Rural Pact and a Rural Action Plan, which aim to make rural Europe stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous.
The Action Plan sets out a series of flagship initiatives around these four themes. In addition, 'rural proofing' will be put in place whereby EU policies are reviewed through a rural perspective. A rural observatory will also be set up within the Commission to further improve data collection and analysis on rural areas and inform policymaking.
The preparation of the long-term Vision for the EU's rural areas has involved various Commission services including the Joint Research Centre (JRC), an ENRD Thematic Group, various research projects funded through Horizon 2020 and numerous other sources. The ENRD and National Rural Networks collaborated to collect the inputs of rural stakeholders during several workshops and events. The results of these exercises were captured in the Rural Voices report.
One of the milestones in developing the long-term Vision for rural areas was the Rural Vision Week, organised and supported by the ENRD. Find the event report and other publications related to the Vision for Rural Areas here.
The European Commission embedded the long-term Vision for rural areas under Priority 6 - A new push for European democracy for 2019-24.
