Evolution of the budget dedicated for rural development policy

Summary:

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the European Union (EU) budget dedicated to rural development since 1993. Primarily, the funding of the rural development policy (RDP), originally through the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and afterwards through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), is considered. In addition and as far as data allow, the analysis also refers to the funding made available for rural areas through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), and the Cohesion Fund (CF). The analysis covers four multiannual financial frameworks (MFFs), each lasting seven years (i.e. 1993-1999, 2000-2006, 2007-2013, and 2014-2020). This provides the opportunity to appreciate the macro evolution of EU policies in the rural development domain from an historical viewpoint, as the headings of the financial perspectives partially reflect the political priorities of the concerned programming periods. The analysis refers to commitment and/or payment appropriations, according to data availability. The current MFF (2014-2020) is analysed in terms of commitment appropriations only, as data on payments are partial and provisional.