EU's rural development policy at the regional level—Are expenditures for natural capital linked with territorial needs?

I. Zasada*, M. Weltin, M. Reutter, P. H. Verburg, A. Piorr

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The restoration and improvement of natural capital (NC) in rural areas represents one of the main objectives of the EU's rural development policy (RDP). In addition to creating environmental and biodiversity benefits, NC represents an important territorial asset and a basis to generate socio-economic second-order effects for economic competitiveness and rural viability. However, the regional capability to valorise NC depends on the specific regional context, needs and potentials, as well as targeted policy support. It has therefore been questioned whether RDP sufficiently considers territorial aspects. Based on a previous study, which distinguished RDP (2007–2013) funding priorities and regional expenditure patterns, this paper focusses on European regions (NUTS2/3) characterised by above-average relative expenditures for measures related to NC support. Building upon the hypothesis that priority setting in regional RDP programming and expenditures depends on the regional context, this study aimed to improve the understanding of priority setting in NC support in relationship to other RD objectives by taking a closer look at the conditions of regions and their communalities. By analysing the variances and spatial dependencies of regional socio-economic, environmental and agricultural framework conditions and applying statistical logit models, this study found that the probability to adopt specific NC-oriented expenditure patterns in a region can only be partly explained by these factors. While environmental variables, such as designated areas and High Nature Value (HNV) farmland, do not drive high NC expenditures, factors representing agricultural structures and conditions seem to have a larger influence. Regional RDP expenditure pattern showed an additional strong dependency from spatial association factors.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)344-353
Number of pages10
JournalLand Use Policy
Volume77
Issue number9
Early online date4 Jun 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Funding

The authors acknowledge funding from the European Commission (FP7, H2020 ) projects SPARD (Spatial Analysis of Rural Development Measures; GA No. 244944 ), CLAIM (Supporting the role of the Common agricultural policy in LAndscape valorisation; GA No. 222738 ) and PROVIDE (PROVIding smart DElivery of public goods by EU agriculture and forestry; GA No. 633838 ).

FundersFunder number
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme222738, 244944
Seventh Framework Programme
European CommissionH2020, 633838

    Keywords

    • Common agricultural policy
    • Logit model
    • Natural capital
    • Regional typology
    • Spatial dependency
    • Territorial development

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