From Declaration to action – rethinking rural power in EU policymaking: new opinion piece
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
- Stronger Rural Areas
- Prosperous rural areas
- Resilient rural areas
- Connected rural areas
While rural issues are increasingly recognised in EU discourse, true influence on policymaking remains limited. Read a new ARC2020 opinion piece by Edina Ocsko, Rural Pact Coordination Group (RPCG) Vice-Chair, calling for a shift toward strategic engagement with power holders to embed rural development at the heart of European policies.
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The opinion piece calls for a more power-aware, alliance-driven, and evidence-based rural advocacy model – one that moves beyond declarations to genuine influence in EU policymaking, particularly in the context of the forthcoming legislative cycle.
The article is grounded in the RPCG Declaration of December 2024, a strategic proposal for the post-2027 EU funds and policies, and recent stakeholder exercises assessing how it can be used to influence policy change.
The piece argues that:
- Declarations should lead to concrete policy impact: while high-level declarations recognising rural areas are welcome, they must be accompanied by efforts to translate ambition into tangible policy outcomes through structured engagement with policy processes.
- Strategic engagement with policy actors is essential: to ensure rural priorities are reflected in EU policymaking, stakeholders should analyse the policy landscape and proactively engage with institutions and decision-makers at both EU and national levels who have most power to achieve policy change and interest in rural development.
- Cross-sectoral collaboration needs to be strengthened: effective rural advocacy requires building alliances with those who are often perceived as having conflicting interests but potentially also have overlapping ones ( such as agriculture, cities) to foster coherence, amplify rural voices, and support shared objectives.
- Focus on clear, actionable policy proposals: to enhance credibility and impact, rural stakeholders need to move beyond general statements and advocate for concrete, evidence-based proposals, based on robust data, which are aligned with legislative and funding opportunities.