Agriculture central to rural economies, says report on development
Her report on the EU guidelines for rural development, which sees emphasis and funding moving from farming to other rural-based activities, was adopted by the parliament.
The guidelines aim to help member states develop specific rural development programmes. Ireland’s plan is due out in four to six weeks.
Ms McGuinness said that despite the perception of Ireland as an enterprise- friendly economy, it comes 17th in the EU in terms of broadband penetration.
Studies show that local coverage could decline to 50% in some rural areas due to inadequate networks or lack of infrastructure.
“This is a most alarming statistic and reveals the real challenge facing rural Ireland,” she said.
Her report stresses the need for continuing support for modernisation and innovation in agriculture and the food chain in order to create new jobs and to retain existing ones.
But Ms McGuinness underlined two major worries. If the outcome of the World Trade Organisation talks destabilise EU agriculture and food markets, it would have a very serious impact on rural Europe.
The second major concern was the amount of funding available for rural development, which was effectively cut by €20 billion for 2007 to 2013 from the original proposal.
