The agenda of the working group on agriculture and rural development was quite packed on 24 September. After a presentation by Iman Boot from DG Agri on the European Innovation Partnership (EIP), members discussed the current setting up of operational programmes and the difficulties regions face in having their voice heard at national level.

But all in all, the topic that raises the most intense interest is interregional cooperation. Against a gloomy economic backdrop, interregional cooperation is indeed a financially efficient way of getting access to targeted expertise. This is obvious in the light of the enthusiasm stirred by the AER transfer of good practices programme RUR@CT, which first call for expression of needs showed numerous expectations in the field of rural development.

Similarly, the discussion with Marina Brakalova from the European Network for Rural Development (ENRD) resulted in the identification of various collaboration opportunities with this network.