In Italy, there has been a significant emigration from the countryside towards urban areas with negative downsides on rural communities which have suffered of socio-economic marginalization and negative effects on the environment. The Common Agricultural Policy has been a pivotal tool able to reduce the marginalization in rural territories financing farmers able to promote the multifunctionality and the production of positive externalities. By using a quantitative approach on Farm Accounting Data Network time series on Italian farmers, it has been possible to access the role of subsidies allocated by the European Union on the rural development. The results have pointed out a positive role of financial supports and subsidies allocated by the Common Agricultural Policy to guarantee an adequate level of farm income. In the next period 2014-2020, the national and local authorities should take into account to put into action the Rural Development Programme aimed to implement the socio-economic growth in the Italian countryside specifically towards farms located in less favoured areas
