Abstract:
The article defines the development directions of rural territories in EU countries
by stimulating the agricultural sector and tourism. The reasons for the development of
the agricultural sector in EU countries have been definitively stated, namely:
urbanization, industrialization, reduction of employment in the agricultural sector,
labor productivity, which has remained at a constant level in EU over the past ten years.
It has been established that the share of the agricultural sector in GDP remains at a
stable level, and the growth of value added is consistently low, which is caused by the
lack of investment in capital to ensure the growth of productivity of the agricultural
sector. Agrarian sector’s management of EU countries is provided by a complex but, at
the same time, flexible financial support system. The reduction of the rural population
in EU countries has stimulated the development of the agricultural sector by financing
research and development, which ensured the growth of labor productivity in the
agricultural sector. The rural development depends on the size of the rural population
and its level of growth, labor productivity and the level of state support for innovations,
ensuring productivity growth. The tourism industry has made a major contribution to
the development of rural areas of EU countries, while the agricultural sector is
characterized by stagnation of labor productivity, wage levels, low growth rates of
value added products. Despite this, the tourism development policy is aimed at solving environmental problems, the competition of European tourism, increasing the demand
for services, improvement of tourism products, and technological development of the
industry.
