Rural development is the second pillar of the EU Common Agricultural Policy. For the first pillar (direct payments to farmers and market regulation), sophisticated models exist with which the impact of policy changes can be predicted. To assess the impact of Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) is much more difficult, because they are different for each member state, and in several countries even for each region. Impossible it is not, however: the programmes consist of a set of measures, from which member states have to select.
Since member states have set up large databases for monitoring the RDPs, the possibility of evaluating their impact emerges. Therefore, the 7th Framework Programme of research under the auspices of the European Commission has called for research on this issue. The intention is to relate the impact of each measure to the characteristics of the various regions in which these measures are applied, while controlling for the influence of spatial variables.
A consortium was set up under the leadership of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) in Müncheberg, Germany, which was awarded this project. Nine research institutes from eight European countries participate. LEI is a partner in this research with specific responsibility for developing the spatial-econometric model needed in the analysis.