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The European Rural Parliament is a partnership initiative of 3 European-wide networks: European Rural Community Alliance ERCA; PREPARE Partnership for Rural Europe; European Leader Association for Rural Europe ELARD. The event is organised every other year this year's session is held for the first time in Poland. The organiser is the Agricultural Advisory Centre in Brwinów, Targi Kielce and its Congress Centre is the meeting venue. The fifth edition of the European Rural Parliament brings together 400 representatives of social, public, scientific and economic organisations from nearly 40 European countries.

A new common agricultural policy and a pact for the rural areas

European Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski,  discussed the current and future activities of the European Union for rural areas.

- When in June 2021 we published a long-term vision for rural areas, we identified the European Rural Parliament as a partner for the Pact for Rural Areas.  Since January, the ELARD   European Association of Leaders for Rural Development, ERCA    European Rural Community Alliance and PREPARE  Partnership for Rural Europe and other institutions have been involved in and contributed to the Pact for Rural Areas. - This pact aims to bring together all governments and business representatives for the first time in order to work together and to achieve the goals of a long-term vision for rural areas until 2040. It is difficult but also promising - said the Commissioner.

As he explained, rural areas face structural problems, such as the lack of attractive employment opportunities, digital infrastructure and necessary services for young people.

- We are introducing the measures, and the plan for rural areas: thirty actions apply to all areas of rural life. The measures concern, inter alia, mobility, energy, climate, innovation for young people and the social economy. The Pact for Rural Areas has three goals: to define the rural residents' opinions, to put them higher on the political agenda, and to develop opportunities for cooperation and mutual learning and voluntary commitment to action. In particular, we hope that the Member States will build dedicated strategies for rural areas, start activities for the development of the rural regions and invest European Union funds in rural areas - emphasised Janusz Wojciechowski.

As the EU commissioner explained, the new common agricultural policy will continue to promote employment growth, and gender equality, including the participation of women in agriculture, social inclusion and local development in rural areas.  - In the period 2023-2027, the legal framework will offer a wide range of opportunities to strengthen rural areas. Smart Villages are rural communities that can benefit from innovative solutions, have the potential to help overcome challenges and improve the quality of life in rural areas by using new technologies in social innovation. On Thursday's panel on the European pact, we will discuss the pact itself, but also what it may bring in the future, said Janusz Wojciechowski, European Union Commissioner for Agriculture.