Liz McManus
Ceist:48 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will make a statement on his participation in the recent European Conference on rural development in Austria. [28549/03]
Written Answers. - Community Development.
I attended the conference on rural development in Salzburg from 12 to 14 November. The themes of the conference were planting seeds for rural futures and building a policy that can deliver our ambitions. There were some 1,000 delegates in attendance from current and accession member states including Ministers with responsibility for agriculture and rural development. The report of the conclusions of the conference outlined a number of principles which should guide future rural development policy. The principles state that a living countryside is essential for farming as agricultural activity is essential for a living countryside. The principles also relate to the preservation of the diversity of Europe's countryside, the competitiveness of the farming sector, rural development policy which will apply in all rural areas of the enlarged EU, serve the needs of broader society in rural areas and be implemented in partnership between public and private organisations and civil society in line with the principle of subsidiarity. Greater responsibility will be given to programme partnerships. It was also a principle developed at the conference that a significant simplification of EU rural development policy was both necessary and urgent. Delivery must be based on one programming, financing and control system tailored to the needs of rural development.
I echoed my approval of the Salzburg conference at the National Rural Development Forum in Cashel on 7 November. At this event, I referred to the need for Ireland to take a pro-active part in shaping the European agenda towards rural development. I also said that such policies should recognise that rural areas must have multi-dimensional development policies. A total dependence on agriculture will not sustain the population in rural areas. Clear spatial strategies are needed to ensure the continued maintenance and growth of rural populations. There must be targeted funding for rural areas as a matter of urgency to ensure that infrastructure deficits in roads, telecommunications, water and public transport do not inhibit rural growth. These funds must be targeted at declining and peripheral areas. We must ensure that EU competition law does not operate to make the provision of essential services prohibitively expensive in rural areas. We must recognise that enterprise support mechanisms are needed to ensure rural areas can compete for enterprise development. I am pleased with the broad conversance of many of the conclusions of Salzburg with these concerns.
The conclusions of the Salzburg conference will help shape EU policies in this area until 2006 and will help inform our policy agenda in a national context also.