Sustainable Development of Rural Areas: Generalization of the Experience of the European Union

The article is devoted to identifying key trends in implementing the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union and the European Green Deal in rural areas, determining directions for efforts in the context of their sustainable development, and ensuring the reproduction of human capital in Ukraine. It was determined that the practical experience of the European Union in the implementation of agrarian and regional policy allows it to highlight the most priority areas of efforts to ensure the development of rural areas, namely, diversification of the economic activity of small and medium-sized agricultural producers, agricultural cooperation; state support for small organizational forms of agricultural producers; development of non-agricultural types of business activity; development and maintenance of a sufficient level of the social infrastructure of rural settlements; formation of sustainable food systems and reduction of the distance between the point of food production and its consumption; maintaining biodiversity; development of agricultural production according to the principles of the circular economy; development of organic production; rational use of land resources; preservation and reproduction of natural landscapes. The priority areas of efforts to ensure the sustainable development of rural areas of Ukraine are based on the generalization of the experience of the European Union, with the division into economic, social, and ecological components proposed. It is substantiated that the conceptual basis of the livelihood of rural areas of Ukraine is the principles of sustainable development; such an approach is irreplaceable in achieving harmony between the development of agricultural production and multifunctional rural areas. The multifunctionality of rural areas, together with the modern level of their social infrastructure, is a prerequisite for the formation of human capital.