Minister Essayah at EU conference: Living countryside is indispensable for food production and security

Minister Essayah at EU conference: Living countryside is indispensable for food production and security

"A living and attractive countryside is extremely important for farming and food production in the future. Farmers need a community, services, infrastructure and other entrepreneurs around them." This is what Minister Sari Essayah said as she spoke at the EU's Rural Pact Conference on Tuesday. Minister Essayah had been invited to speak about Finland's experiences from the implementation of the implementation of the vision for the EU's rural areas in a situation where the programming and funding period is coming to an end and the new period is being planned.

Within the EU, Finland is considered to have succeeded as a country that has adopted a comprehensive approach to rural development. In Finland 35% of the enterprises operate in rural areas, and during the previous rural funding period of the EU about 15,000 jobs were created in the rural areas, which has had impacts on the GDP.
Minister Sari Essayah considers that rural proofing will be highly important as we move towards the next funding period. The European Commission should lead by example, coordinate the work of the different Directorates-General and require the Member States to conduct rural proofing when preparing new legislation.

"Agricultural policy and rural development must not be set against each other - instead, they should be seen as mutually complementary processes. The vision for agriculture and food production and the long-term vision for the rural areas must be implemented side by side. Funding for comprehensive rural development and community-led local action in the Member States must be ensured in the next funding period as well," Essayah said.

Essayah pointed out that Finnish rural areas are also facing challenges related to demographic trends that, if they continue in future, will have extensive impacts on Finland's security of supply through the value chains that start in the rural areas. Positive perspectives on the future include the resilience, adaptability and innovative capacity of the highly diverse rural businesses. Rural businesses also proved their resilience during the COVID-19 crisis, for example.

Minister Essayah spoke to a group of 250 persons composed of experts, scientists and decision-makers from different EU countries. She concluded by stressing the need for decision-makers to ensure that rural areas will remain habitable and comprehensive in the future as well. Essayah participated in the conference held in Kortrijk, Belgium on the invitation of Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms at the European Commission. The Commissioner of Agriculture Christophe Hansen, who also spoke at the conference, stressed the important role of rural areas for the bioeconomy, security and the future of agriculture.

Inquiries:
Iina Mattila, Special Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 50 473 6221