Multifunctionality and Rural Development in the EU: A Comparative Analysis

The paper focuses on the relationship between multifunctionality in agriculture and rural development policies in the light of the ongoing debate in Europe on possible strategies to enhance the secondary functions of agriculture. More in details, it examines the widespread but ambiguous identification of the so-called CAP “second pillar” policies as the strategy tout court for the valorisation of multifunctionality, especially in their territorial component. Actually, if one accepts the definition of multifunctionality as the joint production of primary (agricultural) and secondary (externalities) goods, it is rather the sector-based component of rural development policies that can contribute to the enhancement of the multifunctional role of agriculture. The paper compares the way multifunctionality has been enhanced within the rural development programmes of three member States (Italy, United Kingdom and France) on the basis of three parameters: the beneficiaries of the specific actions; the nature of the explicit goals pursued; possible constraints imposed on the goals.