Rural Landscapes and Agricultural Policies in Europe

These are the final results and reflections of the project MEA-Scope. This project with the full title Micro-economic instruments for impact assessment of multifunctional agriculture to implement the model of European Agriculture was a pioneering project. It was among the first which were funded in the new activity Scientific Support to Policies of the th 6 Research Framework Programme. Policy decisions especially at the European level are never easy. What policy-makers decide will potentially affect the lives of millions of people for many years. This makes reaching informed decisions crucial, and scientific research can help illuminate their policy choices. MEA-Scope was one of two projects which addressed the research p- orities for European Rural areas which were identified in an EC workshop on Multifunctionality in Agriculture in 2001. Scientific Support to Policies in the Research Framework Programme is facing the challenge to identify in the discussions between policy makers and the research community those topics which can be addressed in a m- term strategic research programme. When the research topic was published Multifunctionality of Agriculture was among the concepts with many - search questions open. It was considered that positivistic approaches into technology aspects of agriculture, forestry and other rural activities based on natural resources and land use are needed, as well as more normative research with regard to trade, food quality and safety, animal welfare, en- ronment, rural development and cultural issues.