COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY 2007-2013 IN ESTONIA, LATVIA AND LITHUANIA

In this article will be carried out an analysis of the manner in which the three Baltic countries were able to implement rural development Policy at EU level. The article begins with a comparative study on some characteristics of the national economy and the agricultural sector, such as population, GDP, GDP per capita, the total area, the area used for agriculture, the number of farms, number of persons engaged in agriculture, the importance of agriculture to the economies of those countries, will continue with the presentation of the amount of funds allocated for each axis and measure in the rural development programmes for the period 2007-2013 and another chapter will refer to the degree of access of funds from the EAFRD and shall end with a number of conclusions concerning the capacity of States to access EU funds. The three countries have experience in implementing EU funds considering that benefited from rural Development Plans in 2004-2006 and SAPARD.