Editing Common Agricultural Policy (section)

==== Designing rural development programs ====
A given RDP links the priorities of rural development policy to the situation on its territory via a [[SWOT analysis]]. 
The RDP then sets out a selection of measures drawn from the Rural Development Regulation to address the priorities in the appropriate way.

A measure is essentially a set of one types of activity, project, investment etc. which may be funded within a RDP to achieve the priorities of rural development policy.<ref>{{Cite web|date=26 October 2015|title=7 Major Rural Development Policies of India|url=https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/rural-development/7-major-rural-development-policies-of-india/66724|access-date=2021-01-14|website=Your Article Library|language=en-US|archive-date=17 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917040227/http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/rural-development/7-major-rural-development-policies-of-india/66724|url-status=live}}</ref>

For example, the measure Investments in physical assets as set out in the [[Rural development]] Regulation allows support for:
* Investments in farms to improve their performance;
* Investments in processing and marketing (i.e. not necessarily only for farmers);
* Investments in farm- or forest-level infrastructure; and
* Non-productive (i.e. primarily environmental) investments. Measure descriptions in the EU Rural Development Regulation give information of varying detail (according to the measure) about who is potentially eligible for support, what sorts of activity etc. can be supported, and whether there are limits on how much support may be offered.

MS follow the rules for a given measure but, within this framework, still enjoy considerable flexibility about how they use it. For example, a MS might choose to make the measure Investments in physical assets available in its RDP, but only with regard to environmental investments.<ref>{{CELEX|32013R1305|text=Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005}}</ref>