Rural areas represent around 20% of the European population, yet their GDP per capita is significantly below the European average.
The European Union’s rural development policy has set three overarching objectives to help rural regions grow, as well as raise employment and living standards:
EU cohesion policy shares these objectives. The European regional development fund (ERDF) and the European social fund (ESF) therefore work to complement the European agricultural fund for rural development (EAFRD).
The ERDF is active in the following areas:
No distinction between cities/countryside within Cohesion policy
The structural funds operate simultaneously in rural and urban areas, so it is therefore difficult to determine exactly what proportion of the expenditure goes to rural development. Nevertheless, the below table shows the distribution of funds available for the Cohesion Policy 2007-2013, according to the type of area.
Statistics:
Indicative distribution of structural funds by type of area (in millions of Euros) in 2007-2013:
Areas | ERDF | ESF | Total Structural funds |
---|---|---|---|
Rural areas | 47,127 | 6,545 | 53,672 |
Sparsely or very sparsely populated areas | 7,860 | 3 | 7,863 |
Highlands | 6,037 | 344 | 6,381 |
Islands | 3,916 | 281 | 4,197 |
Outermost regions | 1,031 | 1,188 | 5,399 |
Territorial co-operation areas (between several regions/countries) | 9,441 | 162 | 9,604 |
Urban areas | 99,261 | 9,706 | 108,967 |
Not applicable | 90,509 | 57,844 | 148,353 |
Total | 268,361 | 76,073 | 76,073 |
% strictly rural areas | 17.6% | 17.6% | 15.6 % |
% rural areas (widest possible definition) | 22.7% | 22.7% | 19.7 % |
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