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Abstract
With the ongoing “Health Check” and the decisions needed for after 2013, the
Common Agricultural Policy is likely to see another major reform and an increase in
compulsory modulation. By employing a regional model, this paper compares the long-term
impact of spending along the Pillar 2 Axes in NUTS3 areas on selected indicators of
sustainability in several peripheral areas across Europe.
The four case study areas are: Pinzgau-Pongau (a tourism-dominated alpine area in
Austria), the Wetterau (an urbanised industrial area in Germany), Gorenjska (a tourism and
manufacturing dominated area in Slovenia) and Caithness-Sutherland (a remote area in
Scotland).
The results suggest although devolution in European rural development policy has
taken over the last 10 years, there is further need to restore place-based stewardship of public
goods and services as well as private investments across rural areas in the European Union.
Increasing the importance of Axis 2 and Axis 3 measures (part of CAP Pillar 2) therefore
seems an obvious choice for the future.
Furthermore, it is clear that the effects of wider societal trends such as the decreasing
importance of agriculture, commuting and migration, can be weakened or amplified by EU
funding but can not be reversed or significantly changed.