Summary:

The paper outlines some chosen Polish programmes of rural areas shaping, developed in a few recent years against the background of permanent and sustainable development. Development of the village and agriculture in the EU is based mainly on the common agricultural policy, structural policy and regional policy. Agricultural policy may be defined as price - profit policy and supporting structural policy while structural policy consists in influencing production factors which stimulate the changes on rural areas. Regional policy supports restructuring of agriculture, multifunctional development of rural areas and balancing unfavourable differences between regions. The aim of those activities is creating the value and an economically sustained position of rural areas, especially as a place of living, working and relaxation in natural environment and taking into consideration a sensible development of agricultural structures as well. Thanks to a consequent policy of sustainable development in the recent dozen of years the EU has reached a considerable progress in LFA (Less Favoured Areas) reduction. The performed survey of chosen strategies of village and agriculture development worked out in Poland in the years 2001-2006 shows that in most cases they refer to Lisbon Strategy and have various range: from a partial reference to rural areas (The updated concept of the country spatial development) to a slightly broader expression of the problem (Our vision of Poland, The National Programme of Rural Development). The stress put on the needs of sustainable development of multifunctionality has mainly a verbal character. The most valuable from the essential point of view is The National Programme of Rural Development which assumes synchronizing the actions undertaken by various departments and institutions.