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SEMINAR 1998 |
THE ARKLETON TRUST
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[CONTENTS] [NEXT PAGE] |
3.2.2. Rural development in light of the EU regional and cohesion policiesWith regard to the urban-rural balance, one can note from the opinion of DG XVI, responsible for regional and cohesion policies, that the balance needs to swing from sectoral to spatial policies rather than vice-versa. Clearly this is a response to the fact that at present about half of the EU budget goes to about six million farmers (and 80% of that goes to 1.6 million or so of them, representing less than 2% of the EU population). The position of DG XVI does not adequately recognise that there are significant proportions of the non-farming rural population who are unemployed, underemployed and poor, nor that rural areas have significant development potentials and produce significant public goods which are not, or are under, remunerated by the market.The high and often increasing unemployment rate is the most acute problem in the EU. There is a need to revise the social contract. A question arises as to whether the CAP is entitled to use 50% of the EU budget whilst unemployment rises and not enough is spent to create new jobs.
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