Second pillar of the CAP: rural development policy
EU Fact Sheets
01-04-2018
As the second pillar of the common agricultural policy (CAP), the EU’s rural development policy is designed to support rural areas of the Union and meet the wide range of economic, environmental and societal challenges of the 21st century. A higher degree of flexibility (in comparison with the first pillar) enables regional, national and local authorities to formulate their individual multiannual rural development programmes based on a European ‘menu of measures’. Contrary to the first pillar, which is entirely financed by the EU, the second pillar programmes are co-financed by EU funds and regional or national funds.
EU Fact Sheets