Spatial Distribution of the Rural Development Programme in Relation to Population Retention between 2015 and 2019

The common agricultural policy accounts for more than 38% of the European Union’s budget. In the 2014–2020 cycle, 8.9 billion euros went in Hungary to the first pillar and 4.1 billion euros to the second pillar for rural development, the mobilization of which was coordinated by the Rural Development Programme. The second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy plays an important role in catching up with the lagging and depopulated Hungarian countryside. It serves key objectives such as sustainable environmental management, strengthening and diversifying the rural economy, or a fair standard of living. In my dissertation, I explore the territorial distribution of the payments of the rural development programme between 2015 and 2019 and how it affects unemployment and incomes.