Rural development – Vojvodina’s chance

Brussels, Belgium, 11 October – Predrag Novikov visited the European Commission, where a conference on new EU Rural Development Policy 2007-2013 was held. Local competitiveness, equipment modernization and quality control were set as main goals, whilst rural development was given priority. The representatives of the Directorate-General for Agriculture said that there would be special measures to support the production of organic food and renewable resources. The establishment of a single rural development fund brought about significant changes in the new budget period.

“Approach to the EU, acquiring the status of a candidate country, and later of a member state contribute to the fact that substantial EU funds would be available to countryside households, which is also of special importance to the population of Vojvodina. In order for villages of Vojvodina to survive, it is also necessary to support the development of other sectors outside agriculture, such as tourism, small enterprises in the area of reprocessing, services and similar. Measures of infrastructure construction, raising quality standards in public services through subsidized local transport, building schools and kindergartens and raising the standard directly influence people’s decision to remain in rural areas”, said Predrag Novikov, Director of the Office for European Affairs. During the conversation, the representatives of the European Commission gave assurances that our province would be able to become a member of the rural network of the EU the following year.