---
id: ch1-eu-context
type: spine
title: "The EU frameworks every PoliRural+ action plan must serve"
readingTime: 2
standalone: true
core: false
teaser: "Territorial cohesion, the Rural Pact, the 2040 rural vision and the New European Bauhaus: what each asks of a Regional Action Plan."
voice: thinker
parent: null
diagram: null
recallQ: "Which EU frameworks must every PoliRural+ Regional Action Plan contribute to, according to D3.1?"
recallA: "Every RAP must align with EU, national and regional policy, contribute to the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas (strong, connected, resilient, prosperous by 2040) and to the New European Bauhaus, and address an issue that needs urban-rural policy cooperation."
highlights:
  - "Territorial cohesion became the third dimension of EU cohesion with the Treaty of Lisbon"
  - "The Rural Pact, launched by the Commission in 2021, links stakeholders at EU, national and local level"
  - "LTVRA 2040: rural areas that are strong, connected, resilient and prosperous"
  - "D3.1: each RAP must serve the LTVRA and the New European Bauhaus"
status: accepted
concept: eu-rural-policy-context
conceptTitle: "The EU policy context of PoliRural+"
lang: en
lens: generic
depth: intro..standard
formalism: none
visuality: text-first
lengthBand: standard
genre: explainer
state: edited
carriers: prose
---

PoliRural+ builds its plans inside an existing stack of EU commitments. D2.2 and D3.1 name the layers that matter most.

**Territorial cohesion.** The Treaty of Lisbon made territorial cohesion the third dimension of European cohesion, with the aim of geographically balanced development. The first Territorial Agenda (2007) called for polycentric development and equal access to infrastructure and knowledge. It was updated in 2011, and the **Territorial Agenda 2030** was adopted in 2020, stating that inequalities between people and places had reached a critical level. Cohesion policy is delivered through funds that include the ERDF, the Cohesion Fund and the EAFRD (D2.2, Annex D).

**The Rural Pact.** Launched by the Commission in 2021, it is a framework for cooperation among stakeholders at European, national and local level, aimed at amplifying the voices of rural communities (D2.2, Annex D). The Slovak pilot promotes its national Vision 2040 on the Rural Pact platform (D2.3, §4.3).

**The Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas (LTVRA).** Its 2040 goal is rural regions that are **strong, connected, resilient and prosperous** (D3.1). The RAP diagnostic form asks each pilot how its plan serves each of the four words (D7.4, §2.1.1).

**The New European Bauhaus (NEB).** NEB stands for sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion. Objective O7 commits the project to synergies with NEB projects, and D7.4 maps NEB features in each pilot's plan.

**The Green Deal and its targets.** D3.1 lists the EU targets that local plans must eventually translate into local measures: net zero by 2050, and "Fit for 55" (a 55% cut in CO2 emissions by 2030). The CAP and its next reform are on the same list.

## What this means for a RAP

D3.1 turns all of this into three hard constraints. Every Regional Action Plan must align with EU, national and regional policy, and it must:
- contribute to implementing the LTVRA;
- contribute to implementing the New European Bauhaus;
- address an issue that requires **urban-rural policy cooperation**.

The full EU rural policy landscape is in [chapter 7](#c/eu-rural-policy). How plans meet these constraints is in [Regional Action Plans](#c/regional-action-plan).

**Sources:**
- D2.2 Rural-urban linkages and opportunities post COVID-19, Annex D §2 Rural-Urban Linkages and Opportunities in the EU — [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/140/Attachment_0_57.pdf)
- D3.1 RAP Methodology, Phase I: Preparatory Work — [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/161/D3.1__RAP_Methodology_v1.pdf)
- D7.4 Exploitation plans and business models, edition 1 (submitted), §2.1.1 RAP Diagnostic, §2.1.4 Synergies with the New European Bauhaus — [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/342/D7.4_Exploitation_plans__business_models_edition_1_v1.pdf)
- D2.3 Rural-urban data analysis (submitted), §4.3 — [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/382/D2.3_Rural_Urban_data_analysis_v1.0.pdf)