What are the EU funds available for rural areas?
All EU funds and programmes are in principle accessible to rural areas. The most relevant ones are:
- European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD): Rural development (europa.eu)
- European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Fund (CF): European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) | European Commission (europa.eu) and Cohesion Fund (CF) (europa.eu)
- European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) - Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion - European Commission (europa.eu)
- European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF): EMFAF (europa.eu)
- NextGenerationEU through the Resilience and Recovery Facility (RRF): Recovery and Resilience Facility (europa.eu)
- Just transition fund (JTF)
- LIFE Programme
- Research and Innovation – Horizon Europe: Horizon Europe (europa.eu)
- Digital European programme
- Erasmus+ Home | Erasmus+ (europa.eu)
- European solidarity Corps
- Single Market programme
What is the toolkit on access to and combining EU funds?
This toolkit will inspire local and territorial authorities and stakeholders to make use of EU funding opportunities for local development and revitalisation in rural areas. It will also capitalise the experience and good examples of rural peers and reproduce successful stories.
The toolkit on EU funding opportunities for rural areas aims to help rural beneficiaries and all actors involved in territorial development benefit also from synergies and complementarities between funds and instruments that contribute to rural development.
When does the Commission plan to publish the Toolkit on EU funds?
The Commission plans to have a first release of the toolkit in September 2023 and the complete toolkit by December 2023.
What is the Handbook of territorial and local development strategies about?
The handbook offers methodological support for managing authorities of operational programmes, local authorities and any other organisation involved in design, implementation and monitoring of development strategies.
Furthermore, the publication addresses territorial development beyond cities, functional urban areas and metropolitan areas. It offers inspiration and food for thought on how to tackle the most relevant or recurring policy challenges that territorial development actors may encounter.
See more information about the Handbook of Territorial and Local Development Strategies