The Scottish Government

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PART 1: PURPOSE

1. This consultation paper invites your views on the key themes and priorities for the Rural Development Strategy for Scotland. The Strategy will guide the use of European Union ( EU) funds and other resources for rural development in the 2007-13 Scotland Rural Development Programme ( SRDP). The Strategy will form part of a UK National Strategy Plan which must be submitted to the European Commission ( EC) prior to submission of the 2007-13 SRDP in summer 2006.

INTRODUCTION

2. This consultation is the first of two prior to the submission of the 2007-13 SRDP. This first consultation addresses strategic issues. A second consultation will follow shortly on the content of the SRDP including the mechanisms and agency arrangements to deliver funding.

3. The paper is structured as follows.

Part 1 explains the EC's proposals for rural development for 2007-13 and its requirements for National Strategic Plans.

Part 2 provides background on key policy documents and the Scottish context for developing the Strategy, and proposes the main themes and priority actions in Scotland on which the Strategy will be based.

Part 3 examines implementation issues including the consistency of the Strategy with other funding programmes, and options for establishing a Rural Network.

4. This paper has been sent to organisations with an interest in rural communities, agriculture, forestry, the environment and rural development. It is also available online at www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/.

5. Written responses to this consultation are invited by 29 March 2006, although you are encouraged to respond prior to this deadline if possible. You are invited to respond to the specific questions identified in this document, although we welcome comments on any further strategic issues that you feel are important. Responses are requested in the order of the questions asked (although you do not have to answer all of them). Any additional comments can be made at the end of your response.

Written responses should be sent to:

Electronic responses should be sent to rdstrategy@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Freedom of Information

6. The Scottish Executive intends to publish the responses to this document. Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public, we intend to publish the name and address (or part of the address) of the author along with the response, as this gives credibility to the consultation exercise. It is therefore important that you let us know how you wish your response to be handled. If you do not wish to be identified as the author of your response, or do not wish your response to be published, please state this expressly in writing to us. We will regard your response as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.

7. You should be aware that the Scottish Executive is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act or the Regulations for information relating to responses made to this document.

PART 1: EUROPEAN COMMISSION PROPOSALS FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT

8. Guiding principles for the EU Common Agricultural Policy, market and rural development policies were set out by the European Council in Gothenburg in 2001 and were confirmed in the Lisbon Strategy Conclusions in Thessaloniki in 2003. The Gothenburg aims include limiting climate change and increasing the use of clean energy, addressing threats to public health, managing natural resources more responsibly, and tackling land use and transport issues. The Lisbon Strategy is based around two key aims of delivering stronger, lasting growth and creating good quality jobs in an environmentally sustainable way.

9. The submission of a National Strategic Plan by each Member State to guide the distribution of European resources is a requirement of the new Rural Development Regulation (1698/2005) which sets out how support for rural development will be planned and implemented. Within the UK, Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are each preparing individual strategic plans that will be put together to form the UK National Strategic Plan.

10. Further to the Regulation, the EC has published strategic guidelines and a working paper to help Member States develop their national strategies. Key points to note from these documents are as follows:

• The main principle behind rural development policy is to combine strong economic performance with sustainable use of natural resources - Member States should show how the implementation of the National Strategic Plan will contribute to the Lisbon objectives and how it fits with the Member State's Lisbon reform programme.
• Member States should adopt integrated approaches to designing their Strategies and RDPs, and RDPs should complement other EU funding programmes ( e.g. Structural Fund and European Fisheries Fund programmes).
• The main body of the Strategy should be structured around six chapters covering the main themes of the SRDP, indicative levels of funding and complementarities with other funding programmes. The six chapters are set out in Annex A. The main body of the Strategy (for Scotland) should not exceed 20 pages in length (excluding annexes).

A copy of the Regulation can be downloaded from: http://europa.eu.int.comm/agriculture/rur/index_en.htm

The strategic guidelines can be downloaded from: http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/capreform/rdguidelines/index_en.htm

11. Following reform of the CAP in 2003, EU rural development funding in the 2007-13 programming period will be delivered through a single European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development ( EAFRD). The EAFRD will be used to support three strategic priorities representing Axes in Regulation 1698/2005.

i. Improving the competitiveness of agriculture and forestry by supporting restructuring, development and innovation (Axis 1).

ii. Improving the environment and the countryside by supporting land management (Axis 2).

iii. Improving the quality of life in rural areas and encouraging diversification of economic activity (Axis 3).

The strategic approach also supports a fourth horizontal Axis to enhance the use of the LEADER approach which is a bottom-up, locally-driven approach to innovation and development administered by local partnerships. Axis 4 can be delivered across any one or combination of the three main Axes.

12. The strategic guidelines indicate that there should be consistency and cohesion within and between the Axes. Contained within the Axes are 42 'measures' (see Annex B) which provide a broad menu of the types of activity that it is possible to fund in the 2007-13 SRDP. The measures can contribute to more than one Axis within the Regulation. The National Strategy and the SRDP must be constructed around these measures.

13. EC Regulation 1698/2005 stipulates that minimum proportions of EAFRD funding (including compulsory modulation) must be allocated to each of the Axes.

• Axis 1 : 10%
• Axis 2 : 25%
• Axis 3 : 10%
• Axis 4 : 5% (within the minima for Axes 1-3)

These proportions must be borne in mind when considering the balance between different types of measures to be supported in the SRDP. Funding from the EAFRD must be matched by a contribution from national sources.

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