New Cork Declaration on Rural Development

A new Cork Declaration on Rural Development called 'A Better Life for Rural Areas' has been published.

The declaration was drafted at the Cork 2.0 European Conference on Rural Development which took place on from 5-6 September, exactly twenty years after the first Cork conference which concluded with the signing of the first Cork Declaration on Rural Development.

The recent conference brought together hundreds of people from across Europe to discuss current and future challenges of farming and rural areas, as well as potential policy responses - with a view to drafting the new Cork Declaration.

The new Cork Declaration on Rural Development can be downloaded from the European Commission website.

It includes ten policy orientations for action:

• Promoting rural prosperity
• Strengthening rural value chains
• Investing in rural viability and vitality
• Preserving the rural environment
• Managing natural resources
• Encouraging climate action
• Boosting knowledge and innovation
• Enhancing rural governance
• Advancing policy delivery and simplification
• Improving performance and accountability

Information from the conference including presentations and videos are available on the European Commission website