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The National Rural Network

  1. What is the National Rural Network?
  2. What form will the National Rural Network take in England?
  3. How much funding will be allocated to run the Network and how will it be funded?
1.  What is the National Rural Network?
  • The requirement for a Rural Network to support rural development programmes is a new requirement under the Rural Development Regulation.
  • The Regulation requires networks to put in place:

    the identification and analysis of good transferable practices and the provision of information about them; the organisation of exchanges of experience and know how, including on administrative topics and procedures; the preparation of training programmes for local action groups in the building process; assistance for inter-territorial and trans-national cooperation.

2.  What form will the National Rural Network take in England?
  • Although no decisions have yet been taken on the structure of the National Rural Network we have asked the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) will be asked to operate the RDPE Network.
  • It is envisaged that the Network should build on existing structures and it should be as close to local beneficiaries as possible, suggesting the need for what the Commission describe as “regional antennas” as well as an England coordination body.
  • There also a requirement to put in place a UK level network which will link the individual networks being put in place for the England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland programmes and provide a single point of contact with the EU Commission and the European Rural Network.  The CRC has been asked to take responsibility for operating the Network at the UK level.
3.  How much funding will be allocated to run the Network and how will it be funded?

  • The indicative allocation for the funding of the Network is set out in Chapter 16 of the draft Programme Document. As required by the Regulation the Network will be funded from the Programme’s budget under a mechanism known as Technical Assistance.

Page last modified: 28 August, 2009
Page published: 21 July, 2005