A Framework of Rural Proofing Actions: Thematic Group Final Output 2022

Published in 2021, the European Commission’s ‘A Long-term Vision for the EU’s rural areas’ invited Member States (MS) to consider implementing rural proofing at national, regional and local levels. This is alongside a commitment from the EU in the Communication ‘Better Regulation: Joining forces to make better laws’ to integrate rural proofing and territorial impact assessments as part of the Better Regulation Agenda aiming to assess the anticipated economic, social and environmental impacts of major EU legislative initiatives on the different territories of the EU including rural areas.

At the first meeting of the ENRD Thematic Group (TG) on Rural Proofing in January 2022, participants heard how rural proofing has been/is being implemented in EU MS and regions, and the discussion resulted in a synthesis document outlining the key ingredients for successful rural proofing. Building on these ingredients, a draft of this document, setting out a suggested framework of actions required for meaningful rural proofing was discussed at the second TG meeting in May 2022.

Discussion at the meeting was incorporated into the draft to produce this final version of the framework of actions. The document identifies five actions that are essential to undertake in the short-term and four that are desirable to undertake over a longer-term timescale.

This framework of actions aims to support policy-makers and all stakeholders involved in designing or implementing rural proofing mechanisms in their particular context at national, regional or local level. It expresses the views and exchanges within the framework of the TG and as a working document it does not aim to provide an exhaustive checklist of actions.