Europeanizing rural development? Implementing the CAP's second pillar in England

Abstract

The paper examines the implementation in England of the Rural Development Regulation (RDR), established in 1999 as the ‘Second Pillar’ to the Common Agricultural Policy. The paper argues that the limited UK allocation of European funds hampered the RDR's initial introduction. However, discretionary national funding decisions have meant that a radical approach to financing the RDR has been adopted in the UK. In England, implementation of the Regulation has strengthened a process of Europeanization, but this currently risks being at the cost of distorting sub‐national priorities to spread rural development support beyond the farm gate.