TOWARDS REGIONAL DIFFERENTIATION OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN THE EU

In this study a comparative analysis of the Rural Development Plans (RDPs) in four intermediate rural regions (Northern Netherlands, Lower Saxony, Wales and Emilia Romagna) and four most urban regions (Southern Netherlands, North Rhine-Westphalia, Flanders and Lombardia) is made. Such plans are designed in the scope of the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In particular, the focus was on the question whether the menu approach of the second pillar enables EU member states and regions to design Rural Development Plans with a tailor-made set of measures which address their specific rural development needs. The findings of this study suggest that the current menu of rural development measures is sufficient to suit the wide range of socio-economic, ecological and physical circumstances in the EU regions. The analysis also revealed that there is some overlap between the three rural development priorities of the second pillar. Therefore, an outline of future rural development priorities and measures in the EU is designed, in which it is attempted to avoid overlap between the various rural development priorities and in which each measure contributes to the achievement of one development priority only. In addition, it is proposed that regions would select only those measures in their Rural Development Plan which really address the rural development needs in their region, even if this results in a Rural Development Plan with only one or two rural development measures. Such an approach of selecting rural development measures according to regional needs will result in a large variation in rural development measures implemented and may be considered regional differentiation of EU rural development policy.Agricultural and Food Policy,

De functie van het Borgstellingsfonds voor de Landbouw: Een quickscan naar de functie in de huidige vorm en marktsituatie

By means of a quickscan, this research describes the role of the Agricultural Loan Guarantee Fund (BF) instrument for agricultural entrepreneurs in its current form and within the current market situation. In this, account was taken of the general trends in the sectors that are important for the BF, the current BF decree, indications providing insight into the importance of the instrument, the financing policy of banks and the role of the BF, and the idea of possibly using the BF to stimulate innovation. The description is based on data from LEI's Farm Accountancy Data Network, data from the Agricultural Loan Guarantee Fund foundation, and interviews with experts from banking practice. Dit onderzoek beschrijft in een quickscan de functie van het instrument Borgstellingsfonds voor de Landbouw (BF) in de huidige vorm en marktsituatie voor de agrarische ondernemers. Hierbij is rekening gehouden met de algemene trends in de voor BF belangrijke sectoren, het huidige besluit BF, indicatoren die inzicht geven in het belang van het instrument, het financieringsbeleid van banken en de rol van BF en het idee om BF mogelijk te gebruiken voor het stimuleren van innovaties. De beschrijving is gebaseerd op gegevens uit het Bedrijven-Informatienet van het LEI, gegevens van de Stichting Borgstellingsfonds voor de Landbouw en interviews met deskundigen uit de bancaire praktijk.Agricultural Finance,

TOWARDS REGIONAL DIFFERENTIATION OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN THE EU

In this study a comparative analysis of the Rural Development Plans (RDPs) in four intermediate rural regions (Northern Netherlands, Lower Saxony, Wales and Emilia Romagna) and four most urban regions (Southern Netherlands, North Rhine-Westphalia, Flanders and Lombardia) is made. Such plans are designed in the scope of the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In particular, the focus was on the question whether the menu approach of the second pillar enables EU member states and regions to design Rural Development Plans with a tailor-made set of measures which address their specific rural development needs. The findings of this study suggest that the current menu of rural development measures is sufficient to suit the wide range of socio-economic, ecological and physical circumstances in the EU regions. The analysis also revealed that there is some overlap between the three rural development priorities of the second pillar. Therefore, an outline of future rural development priorities and measures in the EU is designed, in which it is attempted to avoid overlap between the various rural development priorities and in which each measure contributes to the achievement of one development priority only. In addition, it is proposed that regions would select only those measures in their Rural Development Plan which really address the rural development needs in their region, even if this results in a Rural Development Plan with only one or two rural development measures. Such an approach of selecting rural development measures according to regional needs will result in a large variation in rural development measures implemented and may be considered regional differentiation of EU rural development policy

Second pillar of the CAP: what can we learn from experiences with the menu approach?, in Tijdschrift voor Sociaalwetenschappelijk Onderzoek van de

Abstract The menu approach of the second pillar of the CAP allows regions/countries to select those rural development measures which suit their needs best. The selection from the second pillar menu, which consists of 22 rural development measures, has to be reported in the Rural Development Plan. In this article we test the hypothesis 'Regions select a few measures from the menu which are according to their rural development needs.' For this purpose, we analysed three main steps which have to be taken in the application of the menu approach: (1) the identification of rural development priorities; (2) the selection of rural development measures to relieve these rural development priorities; and (3) the allocation of financial means to these rural development measures. The analysis is restricted to eight regions in the EU: four intermediate rural regions (Northern Netherlands, Lower Saxony, Wales and Emilia Romagna) and four most urban regions (Southern Netherlands, North Rhine-Westphalia, Flanders and Lombardia). It appears that the case study regions selected quite a large number of rural development measures from the menu, varying from 12 to 18. The analysis reveals that doubts can be raised whether all selected measures are according to the rural development priorities of the case study regions. In addition, it seems that rural development measures are sometimes interpreted in different ways by regions and that the relationship between the rural development measures and the three objectives of the second pillar is not unambiguous. Therefore, some reformulation of rural development measures and objectives of the second pillar is suggested at the end of this article. The findings of our analysis may serve as input in the debate on the future orientation of EU rural development policy

De functie van het Borgstellingsfonds voor de Landbouw: Een quickscan naar de functie in de huidige vorm en marktsituatie

By means of a quickscan, this research describes the role of the Agricultural Loan Guarantee Fund (BF) instrument for agricultural entrepreneurs in its current form and within the current market situation. In this, account was taken of the general trends in the sectors that are important for the BF, the current BF decree, indications providing insight into the importance of the instrument, the financing policy of banks and the role of the BF, and the idea of possibly using the BF to stimulate innovation. The description is based on data from LEI's Farm Accountancy Data Network, data from the Agricultural Loan Guarantee Fund foundation, and interviews with experts from banking practice. Dit onderzoek beschrijft in een quickscan de functie van het instrument Borgstellingsfonds voor de Landbouw (BF) in de huidige vorm en marktsituatie voor de agrarische ondernemers. Hierbij is rekening gehouden met de algemene trends in de voor BF belangrijke sectoren, het huidige besluit BF, indicatoren die inzicht geven in het belang van het instrument, het financieringsbeleid van banken en de rol van BF en het idee om BF mogelijk te gebruiken voor het stimuleren van innovaties. De beschrijving is gebaseerd op gegevens uit het Bedrijven-Informatienet van het LEI, gegevens van de Stichting Borgstellingsfonds voor de Landbouw en interviews met deskundigen uit de bancaire praktijk