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| Political Dimension |
The public opinion and
the participation of various social and economic groups in the
political debate about development priorities is probably one of the
most important dimensions of rural change. There can be no doubt
that farmers' protests and a massive lobbying of the food industry
have in past years significantly affected Europe's agricultural
policies - both on the national and EU level. Rural development
scenarios therefore cannot be based solely on objective bio-physical
conditions or economic rationality - they must also take into
account political pressures; and this clearly requires analyses of
the power balance between various political actors of rural
development.
Another political question of great relevance to rural areas is the
expansion of the European Union. Some of the likely accession
countries have still relatively large agricultural populations -
especially Poland. Their rural economy will significantly depend on
policies that will be decided in ongoing negotiations with the
European Union.
Finally, it is also a political question how - and to what
extent - the European Agriculture can be (or should be) protected
from international competition. The WTO negotiations are therefore
certainly a factor of European rural development. |
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