Strengthening the Right to Stay in rural areas

The ‘Right to Stay’ – one of the European Commission's priorities for 2024-2029 – refers to the ability to remain in, return to, or settle in rural areas by choice, whilst enjoying access to decent work opportunities, education, services, housing, and social life. It is based on the understanding that rural territories should offer people real opportunities to build fulfilling lives, so that leaving is a matter of choice, not a necessity. The concept of the right to stay is closely linked to the challenge of generational renewal, particularly in agriculture.

The EU CAP Network has worked intensely on these topics, providing opportunities for young CAP stakeholders to network and engage with a variety of stakeholders, including the European Commission (EC), national authorities and academia. At the national level, National Networks (NNs) play an important role, organising and supporting specific initiatives. In this article, we look at key outcomes of EU-level discussions and highlight some inspiring activities shared by the NNs.

The role of generational renewal

The European Commission (EC)'s Strategy for Generational Renewal in Agriculture, published in October 2025, aims to attract young and new farmers by addressing key structural barriers such as access to land and finance, skills and knowledge transfer, pension schemes, and the attractiveness of rural life. The Strategy calls on Member States (MS) to establish national generational renewal strategies to be included in the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) by 2028.

A milestone in this process was the EU CAP Network's Seminar on Ensuring the Right to Stay for Young Farmers and Rural Youth in March 2026, where over 200 (mostly young) participants from 26 EU Member States and the EC exchanged ideas on how to translate the EU Strategy for Generational Renewal into concrete national actions.

Young CAP stakeholders drove the conversation, putting forward proposals for change in five main areas:

All these recommendations are based on actual experiences and are ready to be taken up by decision-makers at the national and regional levels. When this happens, there is hope for a change in the narrative around rural areas; for a better promotion of farming as an attractive way of life; and for concrete improvements, so that young farmers can finally have holidays.

More recently, in June 2026, the Rural Pact Support Office organised a good practice webinar on generational renewal in rural businesses which explored successful initiatives that support the transfer, creation and development of rural businesses beyond agriculture, and examined how older generations can contribute through mentorship, knowledge transfer, and business succession.

Across Member States, National Networks (NNs) are working to support rural youth and generational renewal in agriculture and rural areas. Here is a short selection of initiatives and successes shared through the NN's Youth Cluster – one of our thematic clusters.

Breathing new life into Portuguese agriculture

In Portugal, where the average age of farmers is among the highest in the EU, the government has taken a number of measures to encourage generational renewal.

The first call for proposals to support the setting up of young farmers under Portugal's mainland CAP Strategic Plan (CSP), combining project grants and investments, received more than 4 000 applications that will lead to an overall investment of around EUR 550 million. This will be co-financed through EUR 267 million of investment support from the CSP, of which EUR 74 million in non-repayable grants. The rest will be private/own contributions by the beneficiaries. These figures are a clear demonstration that agriculture remains a sector for the future, and for innovation and value creation in the regions, according to the Portuguese NN.

Following the success of the first call for proposals, the budget allocation for the call was increased, bringing the total amount mobilised to over EUR 296 million, which ensures that more eligible projects can go ahead.

Learning lessons from the rural development programmes on how to make the funding more accessible, the call for proposals remained open continuously for 14 months, giving Portuguese young farmers time to prepare and submit their applications.

To date, over EUR 222 million in investments have been approved, including EUR 125 million in CSP funding.

Equipping young Hungarian farmers for the future

In Hungary as well, generational renewal is high on the agenda, and the CSP includes a range of interventions for young farmers and farm transfers: complementary income support for young farmers, investment support for young farmers and young farmers' set-up, support for farm take-over by young farmers, and cooperation-based support for retiring farmers.

A national law regulates farm transfers and provides standardised farm transfer contracts that help ensure that the transfer of the farm can take place in a transparent manner within the framework of one single contract, instead of multiple sales contracts for, e.g., machinery, land, and animals.

The Hungarian NN plays a key role in supporting rural young people in agricultural and business development across all the CAP interventions. It facilitates relationship building between retiring farmers and their successors, providing legal, financial, and administrative advice, and organising training and information days. It engages in communication and coordination activities and provides knowledge and networking support to young farmers and agricultural students through workshops, youth agricultural clubs, and mentoring programmes. Over 25 events were organised across the country in just the second half of 2025 alone.

Farm incubator networks in Spain

Farm incubators are an alternative tool to promote generational renewal in farming. In Spain, RETA, the Network of Farming Incubators, is scaling up this successful model through EU-wide activities.

Farm incubators help de-risk entrance into farming, providing safe spaces for progressive entry into the sector over a period of one to three years and offering physical, legal, and professional support. Across Spain, 16 farm incubators are already set up and active, six are being created, and there have been 30 information requests for the set-up of new farm incubators across most regions.

RETA has kept growing since its launch in 2018 as an Operational Group, and has expanded its activities to include training, data collection, and analyses that help the sector grow. The network expects to welcome more projects in the future that can strengthen the current initiatives while bringing fresh perspectives, diversity, and motivation to foster generational renewal in Spain.

The Spanish NN is supporting RETA's work through information, communication, networking, and visibility. It is also helping engage a variety of stakeholders – including cooperatives, LEADER Local Action Groups and local councils – to ensure the importance of farm incubators for generational renewal is fully understood.

Stay tuned

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