The European Parliament adopted on 3rd October 2018 in Strasbourg a resolution on addressing the specific needs of rural, mountainous and remote areas.
The resolution underlines the importance of rural, mountainous and remote areas for balanced territorial development in Europe and the need to strengthen them by addressing their specific needs through EU policies. It also stresses that investments directed at integrating these areas into all policies are necessary to achieve EU priorities, including, but not limited to, smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, food safety and security, social inclusion, gender equality, climate change, job creation, digitalisation and an efficient internal market.
Smart Villages Pact
The MEPs urge the establishment of a Smart Villages Pact, with a view to ensuring a more effective, integrated and coordinated approach to EU policies with an impact on rural areas, involving all levels of government, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity. They recall that the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) contributes significantly to economic and social cohesion, in particular in rural areas, and has an important territorial dimension.
The Assembly calls on the Commission to include in the future legislative proposals provisions addressing the specificities of these areas and to provide for adequate funding, especially from the European Structural and Investment Funds, for cohesion policy post 2020.