REFORMING PILLAR 2 –TOWARDS SIGNIFICANT AND SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT?

With the ongoing “Health Check” and the decisions needed for after 2013, the Common Agricultural Policy is likely to see another major reform and an increase in compulsory modulation. By employing a regional model, this paper compares the long-term impact of spending along the Pillar 2 Axes in NUTS3 areas on selected indicators of sustainability in several peripheral areas across Europe. The four case study areas are: Pinzgau-Pongau (a tourism-dominated alpine area in Austria), the Wetterau (an urbanised industrial area in Germany), Gorenjska (a tourism and manufacturing dominated area in Slovenia) and Caithness-Sutherland (a remote area in Scotland). The results suggest although devolution in European rural development policy has taken over the last 10 years, there is further need to restore place-based stewardship of public goods and services as well as private investments across rural areas in the European Union. Increasing the importance of Axis 2 and Axis 3 measures (part of CAP Pillar 2) therefore seems an obvious choice for the future. Furthermore, it is clear that the effects of wider societal trends such as the decreasing importance of agriculture, commuting and migration, can be weakened or amplified by EU funding but can not be reversed or significantly changed.CAP, Pillar 2, rural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, R15, Q18, Q01,

Comparative analysis of territorial impacts of multifunctional agriculture

Due to the increasing priority orientated towards more integrated policy concepts, such as rural development policy, there is a growing need to address the concept of multifunctionality for policy assessment. In particular, the dependence of the various tasks and services provided by agriculture on the territorial contexts is a key issue in valuing adequately the potential of agriculture and forestry in diverse types of rural regions. These questions were therefore the main aims of EU FP6 research project TOP-MARD 2 which tried to develop the concept of multifunctionality as a rural development policy instrument that is sensitive to economic, social, cultural, environmental and geographical context. The project was designed to analyze how the various functions of the agricultural sector in any given territory affect the sustainable economic development and the quality of life of that territory, and how different policies affect these relationships. In a sample of 11 EU countries specifi c study areas were selected to explore the diversity of multiple functions, co-production, and impacts on rural development across Europe. One of the main objectives and outputs of the research project was to improve our knowledge about the relationships affecting multifunctional tasks. A core project deliverable was to characterize these driving forces and interrelations in a policy model (called POMMARD) which would allow the simulation of the dynamic economic, social and environmental impacts of different future policy scenarios in different rural contexts. The paper presents an overview of the objectives and structures of the project, including a comparison of the case study areas and an overview of the POMMARD model. As the provision of tasks going beyond agriculture is particularly expressed in contexts of less-favoured and mountainous areas, a comparative analysis of territorial impacts of multifunctional agriculture in two mountain regions will be presented here: the Pinzgau-Pongau region (Austria), and the Gorenjska region (Slovenia). A set of policy and market scenarios (fi ve policy scenarios) that were tested across all the study areas are summarized for these two regions by analysing the model results and focusing on major conclusions of the project

REFORMING PILLAR 2 –TOWARDS SIGNIFICANT AND SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT?

With the ongoing “Health Check” and the decisions needed for after 2013, the Common Agricultural Policy is likely to see another major reform and an increase in compulsory modulation. By employing a regional model, this paper compares the long-term impact of spending along the Pillar 2 Axes in NUTS3 areas on selected indicators of sustainability in several peripheral areas across Europe. The four case study areas are: Pinzgau-Pongau (a tourism-dominated alpine area in Austria), the Wetterau (an urbanised industrial area in Germany), Gorenjska (a tourism and manufacturing dominated area in Slovenia) and Caithness-Sutherland (a remote area in Scotland). The results suggest although devolution in European rural development policy has taken over the last 10 years, there is further need to restore place-based stewardship of public goods and services as well as private investments across rural areas in the European Union. Increasing the importance of Axis 2 and Axis 3 measures (part of CAP Pillar 2) therefore seems an obvious choice for the future. Furthermore, it is clear that the effects of wider societal trends such as the decreasing importance of agriculture, commuting and migration, can be weakened or amplified by EU funding but can not be reversed or significantly changed

Cytology material is equivalent to tumor tissue in determining mutations of BRCA 1/2 genes in patients with tubo-ovarian high grade serous carcinoma

Abstract Background High-grade serous ovarian cancer is a detrimental disease. Treatment options in patients with a recurrent disease are dependent on BRCA1/2 mutation status since only patients with known BRCA mutation are eligible for treatment with poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi). The aim of this study was to compare concordance of BRCA mutation analyses from cytological samples (CS) with BRCA mutation analyses from histological formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples. Methods Mutation analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes was performed in 44 women diagnosed with primary or recurrent high-grade ovarian cancer from three different samples: blood, cytological sample (ascites, pleural effusion and enlarged lymph nodes) and tumor tissue. Results from all three samples were compared. Results Among 44 patients, there were 15 germline mutations and two somatic mutations. A 100% concordance was found between cytological and histologic samples. Conclusion There is a 100% concordance in BRCA mutation testing between cytological and histologic samples. BRCA mutation testing from CS could replace testing from FFPE tissue in clinical decision making in ovarian cancer patients. Trial registration The study was retrospectively registered at ISRCTN registry on 24/11/2015 - ISRCTN42408038