History and instruments of rural development policy in the Czech Republic

Th is paper summarizes the history of rural development policy in the EU and the Czech Republic with a view to the period aft er 2000 and provides the summary of the most important instruments of rural development policy in the Czech Republic. Also, it points out priorities and measures within rural development policy and regional policy which complement each other. Th e paper objective is to present a history of rural development policy in the EU and the Czech Republic aft er 2000 with the emphasis on the programming period 2007 ? 2013, defi ne and evaluate the most signifi cant instruments of rural development policy in the Czech Republic and asses the role of rural development policy within CAP. In the EU, the label for rural development policy is applied to support provided under Pillar II of Common Agricultural Policy and realized through national rural development programmes. Agriculture is assigned an explicit role in promoting the objectives of the EU and most rural development programmes under the Common Agricultural Policy are aimed primarily at farms and agribusinesses. In term of links between rural development policy and regional policy it is obvious that regional policy programmes represent an important complementary fi nancial instrument which promotes an implementation of selected measures, mainly the measures focused on job creation and improving the quality of life in rural areas, within Axis III of Rural Development Programme. ERDF addresses supplementary the support to processing industry, including food industry, in relation to Axis I. From the Axis II point of view projects increasing the landscape biodiversity are supported. Taking into account the summary of measures within structural EU policy, regional policy and rural development policy which can infl uence a rural development mainly in the area of competitiveness, local employment, stability of inhabitants, local resources exploitation and economic and social cohesion, as the most important present rural development instruments in the Czech Republic can be considered: Th e National Strategic Rural Development Plan of the Czech Republic for the period 2007 ? 2013, Rural Development Programme of the Czech Republic for the period 2007 ? 2013, measures for rural development within structural funds (European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, Cohesion Fund), state aid for agriculture (especially direct payments SAPS and national supplementary direct payments TOP-UP), regional development support from national resources (especially national Rural Area Regeneration Programme ? Program obnovy venkova). Rural development policy in the Czech Republic takes into account specifi c characteristics of the Czech Republic environment and continues the former trends in the agricultural policy. Continuation to the period before 2007 is refl ected especially in a strong support of the agricultural sector in rural development policy. Rural development is infl uenced signifi cantly by the level of rural economy diversifi cation which should lead to minimal dependent on agriculture whose importance for European rural economy has decreased markedly. Political measures focused on rural development can be characterized by insuffi cient acceptance of regional diff erences in rural regions. Th is failure is intensifi ed by the central approach to Rural Development Plan implementation. Furthermore it is necessary to stress the territorial approach in the rural policy of the Czech Republic which should help to fi nd out the regional specifi cities and patterns and contextures between rural problems and provide more targeted support to rural areas.