Financial Framework for Sustainable Development of the EU Rural Areas: Towards the New Priorities

Economic activity stimulation in rural areas is among the major spatial development directions in the EU countries. In its context, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is implemented at the supranational level. Its goals receive substantial financial resources both from the EU budget and national budgets. The paper aims to research the mechanism of the EU CAP development and implementation and its impact on rural economic development and agriculture, and outline advantages and problems to be addressed in the context of the policy implementation. The mechanism of the EU CAP development and implementation is examined, economic development stimulation in rural areas is analyzed across the CAP pillars, and directions of financial support to farmers, agriculture as a whole, and rural areas are emphasized. The analysis of the EU CAP has revealed that public policy should be based on a dual approach to rural areas – in the first place, as national wealth and source of historical-cultural identity of a state, and in the second place, as a driving force on the way to transition to the care economy and environmentally oriented entrepreneurship.