0 Kees de Ruiter Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Department of Rural Areas 30 November 2005

1 Densely populated: 479 inhabitants per km2. More than half of the population lives in urban areas. No economic or social need for a specific rural development policy: most rural areas perform economically as well as urban regions. Problems in rural areas are often related to the (decreasing) quality of the landscape, nature and the environment. The (man-made) Dutch peri-urban countryside…

2 The National Strategy for Rural Development A balanced set of priorities based on the Dutch situation: support for transition of agriculture, esp. for innovation, land consolidation, LFA’s, environmental protection maintain and enhance values of nature, landscape and cultural heritage development of a sustainable rural economy, with eye for the social fabric and viability

3 Synergy of funds Structural Funds: some specific regions Leisure areas nearby cities Agrifood complex Natura 2000 Reconstruction of larger rural areas EAFRD: all rural areas Focused on the farmer Local scale Wide range of measures

4 EU-cofinancing is merely 10% of the total budget spent on rural policy policy in the Netherlands

5 Agenda for a living countryside & Choose for agriculture territorial planning farmers

6 Multi-annual program National program with objectives and euro’s 12 contracts for 7 years Yearly registration on output Yearly monitoring of outcome Continuous dialogue

7 New way of implementing rural policy Decentralisation of responsibilities and money For all the policy subjects in rural areas Simpler and more flexible Space Time

8 The role of the provinces Director Tailormade solutions Mediator Bottom-up approach

9 Investmentbudget: a new start What can go wrong? -confidence -Brussels? -slow-speed -procedures -confidence

10 Simple, clear and lots of common sense