Bresso highlights importance of Europe's rural development

Europe needs a "consistent and focused approach" to rural development, Committee of the Regions (CoR) president Mercedes Bresso has said.

Speaking at the CoR external bureau meeting in Gödöllõ, Hungary, Bresso said that rural areas make up the bulk of Europe geographically, but are becoming less dependent on agricultural activities.

She added that "EU policies to develop rural areas will be based on the common agricultural policy and cohesion policy, and will lie at the heart of any European debate".

The CoR warned that some rural areas are in serious decline and agriculture is no longer the dominant part of their economic and social structure.

Joining Bresso, Jozsef Angyan, the Hungarian junior minister for agriculture called for "new life" for the city-countryside link, saying they "belong together".

He said the interplay between cities and rural areas needs to be kept balanced and stressed the importance of welfare and quick and easy access to services for people living in the countryside.

"The city is the market for countryside produce and the countryside is a resource for cities," he said.

"Hungary has developed a strategy for the next 10 years based on previous guidelines - to share a common life with agriculture being the backbone."

The 128th CoR bureau meeting, which took place last week, focused on rural development as a major political issue in Europe.

The CoR believes that rural areas are essential for Europe as they provide a great diversity of landscapes, renewable energy, quality goods and raw materials, which needs to be sustained throughout member states.

Despite accounting for the bulk of EU territory, so far little seems to have been said about the issue of development in rural and village communities.

Wladyslaw Piskorz, the head of the urban development unit at DG REGIO told the panel that the EU must take a "bottom up" approach and empower people at the lowest level.

CoR member and president of the purple network of surburban regions Lenie Dwarshuis - van de Beek, said a regional approach would move everything forward.

Van de Beek called for a closer link between the EU fund for European development and rural development.

"Strong regions are called upon to shape policies and work together with agriculture. It is important to establish an EU policy on this point," she said.

Meanwhile, Jose Manual Sousa Uva, of the European commission's DG agriculture highlighted the need for "smart, intelligent and inclusive development" in rural areas.

He said the major challenges rural areas face is the diversification in the rural economy and the accessibility to public services.

"It is up to the rural and non-rural to build bridges," he added.