Since Hungary’s accession to the European Union (EU) most of the actions in rural areas have complied with the regulations of the funding programmes of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate why the focus of actions has to be changed from funding to learning. The paper is structured as follows. In the introduction, the author explains, in the light of her research experience since 2001, why a change in focus is needed. The main body of the paper shows how the need for this change can be explained from different perspectives. Firstly, structural change in the economy is given as a reason. Secondly, the need for change is explained from the concept of neo-endogenous rural development, i.e. the interplay between local and external forces. Finally the reason for shifting the focus from funding to learning is explained in terms of the endogenous and exogenous factors influencing rural development, based on the framework developed by the EU Framework 7 project ‘RuralJobs’. The paper concludes with some examples of the types of tools that have already been used and actions that should be implemented to achieve this change in focus.

One of the most pressing phenomena in recent decades in Europe’s rural areas is population decline. This article summarises how the national sustainable development strategies (NSDS) and the national rural development programmes (NRDP) of the European Union (EU) Member States conceptualise processes of depopulation of rural areas. It gives a systematic overview of the main factors of population decline identified in the strategies and programmes and lists the objectives set and measures proposed by these documents. Although the majority of documents identify the depopulation process and all consider it to be a negative phenomenon, there are no commonly accepted objectives or principles regarding the desired extent of demographic changes in rural areas: the aims vary between ‘reducing’, ‘stopping’, ‘stabilising’ and ‘reversing’ the depopulation of rural areas. Most of the measures proposed against the population declined in NRDPs are linked to Axis 3 of the EU rural development pillar. Regarding sustainability, an upcoming question is the ecological consequences of rural depopulation. The authors suggest that rural policies need a stronger theoretical basis to respond this question and that future national sustainable development strategies should pay more attention to the problem.