Agriculture in European rural regions

peer reviewedThe current crisis in EU agriculture, which is being forced to develop new structures to contend with international competition, could be seen as an entirely economic sectoral crisis. However, the repercussions are in fact widespread, resulting in social change and a profound identity crisis. This article examines the relationship between agriculture and the rural sector, and shows that many traditional agricultural/rural links have been broken due to the economic and commercial development of agriculture, leading to increasing marginalization of many rural areas and extensive rural depopulation. The effects on the environment are also considered. It is concluded that rural areas must become areas to live in, and rather than being dependent on agriculture they must develop in harmony with it