An integrated approach for the EU's rural areas, with particular emphasis on vulnerable regions (own-initiative opinion)

Key points

• Remote mountain and rural areas and peripheral, outermost and artic regions are subject to objective constraints such as a lack of critical mass (demographic or economic), difficult accessibility, etc. Conversely, congestion and pressure on natural resources (air, water, soil) are at the same time increasing in urban areas.

• The CAP should operate in close conjunction with regional and cohesion policies to ensure balanced territorial development as both a consideration and a requirement for any political decision that has a local impact.