3.2.3. Rural policy as a spatial rather than a sectoral policy

1. the articulation of over-arching policy goals (sustainable development in economic, social and environmental terms including 'cohesion') since the Structural Funds reform and the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties means that sectoral policies must be subsumed by - and contribute to - these goals;
2. because rural and urban Europe are increasingly diverse;
3. because of the principle of subsidiarity.

Whereas the Cork Declaration was clear in calling for an integrated and holistic approach (see below, 3.2.5), Agenda 2000 is less clear, with rural policy in danger of becoming merely a branch of sectoral agricultural policy, or even agri-environmental policy. The Commissioner for Agriculture, Franz Fischler, has made a distinction between 'rural' and 'regional' policy which has been criticised as owing more to intra-institutional rivalries than to logic. On the other hand, the statements of the DG XVI on urban policy have not always been helpful either.

These tensions between agricultural, rural and regional development policies are characteristic of the debates about sectoral and spatial policy approaches. The problematic nature of these relationships is reflected in Agenda 2000 proposals for the Structural Funds and the CAP. It is further recognised that agricultural, rural, structural and environmental policies at EU level have spatial impacts at all levels. Moreover, national, regional and planning policies have impacts on neighbouring regions and countries, as well as at EU level. There is a need for greater recognition of these facts, whilst also recognising that physical planning and many other relevant policies (transport, infrastructure, housing etc.) are largely dealt with at national levels, and the EU has no legislative 'competence' in these areas. Hence the ideas for a 'voluntary' approach to integrating policies, and considering spatial impacts of all the various policies at EU and national levels, within the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP).