In each of the CAP periods the Austrian Rural Development Programmes have acquired a more integrative character. Starting with measures concerning farms, they have been enlarged with soil, biodiversity and water protection measures, then included also local developments, diversification beyond...

Rural areas still play a major role within the EU, as Europe is still a fairly rural continent. Moreover, EU rural areas are going through greater challenges and major transformations. After the Eastern enlargements of the EU (in 2004 and 2007), they are getting more and more heterogeneous, in...