Renewable energy for sustainable rural development: significant potential synergies, but mostly unrealised

This audit examines the link between renewable energy and rural development. It examines the EU policy framework for renewable energy as a whole and how it has integrated specific rural development aspects. It assesses whether the framework used to spend funds earmarked for rural development had been designed and implemented in a way that facilitated both renewable energy deployment and sustainable rural development. From this examination and assessment, it concludes that there are potential synergies between renewable energy policy and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) with a view to facilitate sustainable rural development but, as yet, these synergies remain mostly unrealised.