Europe’s budget – Building stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural communities

Under the proposed 2028-2034 budget, the European Commission is renewing its commitment to rural areas to help Europe address their economic, environmental, and social challenges and to support communities across the Union.

The proposal would bring together different sources of EU funding, including support for farmers and rural areas currently provided through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) under a single National and Regional Partnership Plan (NRPP) in each Member State. A dedicated spending target for rural areas has been proposed to ensure that future plans continue to invest in rural territories.

A new publication by the European Commission provides a clear and concise overview of the proposal.

The factsheet highlights two key policy objectives of the NRPPs: sustaining the quality of life in rural areas by improving their attractiveness and living standards (including access to healthcare), and supporting prosperity across all regions, notably by fostering the attractiveness of territories to support the right to stay.

Ensuring investment continuity: the rural target

Under the proposal, each Member State will be required to dedicate at least 10% of its NRPP allocation, excluding the amounts ringfenced for CAP and Common Fisheries Policy income support, to investments in rural areas. At the EU level, this amounts to at least EUR 48.7 billion available for rural areas, which could increase to EUR 63.7 billion through the Catalyst Europe loans.

This rural target aims to ensure that rural areas benefit from a comprehensive response to their specific needs and challenges. Importantly, the rural target comes in addition to direct income support for farmers and foresters provided under the CAP.

Member States will be encouraged to develop a consistent agenda of measures addressing the specific needs and challenges of rural areas, building on synergies across policy areas. A dedicated ‘rural areas’ tracking category will be used to monitor how much funding is planned and spent under the rural target.

To enable a comparable and common approach across countries and ensure a level playing field in the use of funds made available under the rural spending target, the Commission advises defining rural areas in the context of the NRP plans as local administrative units classified as “rural areas” under the degree of urbanisation territorial typology1, with possibilities to adapt to national specificities in specific cases.

To ensure resources are available from the start of the new budget period, the Commission proposed a ‘frontloading’ mechanism: for needs related to agriculture and rural areas, Member States would be able to programme up to two-thirds of the amount normally available for the midterm review (2031) from the start, from 2028 onwards.

In addition, rural areas located in less developed regions may also benefit from the EUR 218 billion reserved for these regions under the future plans.

A broader and more coordinated toolbox for rural areas

Bringing together a wide range of support tools for rural communities under the NRPPs will help different funding sources work better together. This more integrated approach will enable Member States to address rural challenges holistically, combining investments and reforms across policy areas to respond to local needs and opportunities.

Some instruments targeting rural areas in today’s CAP are covered under the proposed CAP regulation: these include LEADER, support for rural business startups, and measures that promote knowledge sharing, advisory services and innovation, as well as support for farming (including in outermost regions). Additionally Member States will also be able to support Smart Villages, cooperation between rural actors, and investments in local services, small-scale infrastructure, and connectivity by using other possibilities in the broader context of the plans.

The new programming period will also make it easier to adopt a multisectoral approach to community-led local development (CLLD) and will encourage integrated territorial investments (ITI).