Polish Rural Development Programmes – Evaluation Results and Lessons Learned

In May 2004 Poland became a member of the EU. Thus it became eligible for the EU funds towards rural development. The programmes related to the EU rural development policy are complex. They involve planning numerous measures for a multi-annual implementation. Polish experiences with the implementation of EU co-financed programmes targeted to the development of rural areas show that the reallocation of funds between measures and regions is an effective tool for increasing the total financial absorption. The choice of measures is a difficult issue. Policy instruments designed by public administration often do not prove well fitted to a given economic reality. Therefore, their alterations must be possible during the implementation process as this is the way their efficiency and effectiveness can be improved.