RURAL DEVELOPMENT EVALUATION MEASURES

Abstract

The study wants to show methods for evaluating rural development in Romania, in the context of joining the European Union. The methodologies used are analysis and synthesis and they are usefull for private and public sector in helping them find new ways to improve rural life with European funds. The current interest in global and regional development is determined by the need to address and solve within national economic policies some new difficulties, generated in the context of the restructuring and reform processes triggered in the central and eastern regions of the continent. According to the Territorial Development Strategy of Romania 2035, the evaluation activities compare the achievements from certain moments of the implementation of the strategy with the previously proposed targets, including the way of implementing specific policies. Accession to the European Union was the strongest pressure factor for the rapid reform of the Romanian rural economy, given the need to integrate into the European rural economy, the European model being based on a competitive, market-oriented sector, performing public functions, such as: protecting the environment, offering more convenient residential settlements for the rural population, as well as the integration of agriculture with the environment and forestry. The general research hypothesis of the study consists in the assumption that the study of the rural space in Romania, in the context of the implementation of programs with European funds, will lead to a clearer identification of the problems and to finding better solutions for the development of the rural environment.