Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service Podcasts.

Today we'll be talking about the EU's long-term vision for rural areas.

We'll look at their needs, their potential and challenges,

see where current support policies have succeeded and where they've been less successful,

and have a quick look into the future.

Stay with us.

From the rolling green hills of Tuscany

to the snow-studded peaks of Romania's Carpathian Mountains,

Europe's rural areas show an amazing variety

of landscapes, climates, traditions and cultures.

To some they conjure up holiday dreams, but to the 137 million Europeans who live in rural areas,

they are real places with very real challenges.

They can certainly offer advantages compared to city life,

a peaceful and healthy environment,

lower living and housing costs, a better social fabric, and they produce the food we eat.

But they must confront a number of important challenges, such as depopulation and an ageing population,

lack of infrastructure, public transportation, education and medical services,

lack of job opportunities, low incomes, a digital gap, and we could go on.

The EU's rural development policy has sought to help address these challenges with varying

levels of impact. Now let's look into this in greater detail.

Between 2014 and 2020, EU rural development policy, through contributions from different funds, has sought to address the specific challenges

of rural areas and turn them into vibrant, attractive areas to live. So what can we learn from this policy?

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