Rural Development and Territorial Cohesion in the New CAP

This note examines the role of rural development in the CAP after 2013. It pays special attention to the way rural development might help to address the adverse effects of the economic crisis on rural areas. The note also discusses the possibilities of overcoming problems that threaten the legitimacy of rural development policy. It is argued that the attention given to competitiveness and innovation as generic concepts threatens to distort rural development in the 2014-2020 period. This will be especially detrimental for territorial integration.