Digitalisation of Rural Areas and Agriculture in the EU Debate: How Far from What Research Says?

Digitalisation of rural areas and agriculture is a vital thread in the EU debate now, at the time of developing the 2021–2027 programming perspective and defining the CAP goals. However, in this debate selected geographic and social factors influencing the process of digitalisation–according to the literature–do not seem to be taken into account. This leads to simplifications and generalisations of the rural reality. Given that satisfying different groups of stakeholders in different areas of Europe poses a big challenge to any of the EU policy, efforts to make them more effective should be stepped up. This paper is to serve that role. Its main aim was to discuss the gaps in the EU debate on digitalisation of rural areas and agriculture. The simplifications and generalisations present in the debate come down to the marginalisation of the role of place and people in the process. These in turn stem from perceiving the rural reality through the prism of binary division of rural society and economy. The former is seen to be constituted by farmers and non-farmers, while the latter by agricultural and non-agricultural functions of rural areas.