Ruraltour Professional

03/09/2026

EU Survey for Stakeholders on Gold-plating

Simplification agenda, including the fight against gold-plating, is at the forefront of the Commission’s agenda to support competitiveness. The Communication A Simpler, Clearer and Better Enforced EU Rulebook adopted in April 2026 indicates that the Commission will work on a toolkit of best practices and criteria to help Member States identify and avoid gold-plating in the national transposition and implementation of EU legislation.

In that context, the Commission has launched an EU Survey to collect information from stakeholders on gold-plating impacting the Single Market. The purpose of this survey is to better understand:

-if/how your business operations are impacted by over-implementation (gold-plating) of EU legislation;

-the nature and volume of costs that your business incurs due to gold-plating and impact on your business growth;

-tested or suggested solutions to address these burdens.

In order to have a rich and comprehensive collection of information, we invite your members to actively participate at the Survey.

Your input can be provided on the following link by 15 September 2026:

https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/goldplating-business-survey

For further clarification, please contact [email protected], in DG GROW, Unit B1 Planning and Simplification

EUSurvey is an online survey-management system built for the creation and publishing of globally accessible forms, such as user satisfaction surveys and public consultations.

02/09/2026

How can rural businesses be strengthened for a more competitive Europe?

There's still time to sign up for the upcoming Good Practice Webinar & discover successful initiatives that foster rural competitiveness through:
🔸business support
🔸access to finance
🔸local value creation
🔸social economy approaches

Register by 4 September to exchange practical examples and lessons on building resilient, diversified & competitive rural economies - link in the comments 👇



Netzwerk Zukunftsraum Land Vlaams Ruraal Netwerk Réseau wallon PAC Ruralni razvoj RH Ministerstvo zemědělství Netwerk Platteland Maaeluvõrgustik Maaseutu - Tilaa elämälle Réseau national Agricultures et Ruralités 2023 - 2027 Deutsche Vernetzungsstelle Ländliche Räume

02/09/2026

28/07/2026

DigAccess-Agrotourism

🌍 **Nearly 40 Social Economy SMEs in Agrotourism from across our partner countries came together last Friday for another inspiring DigAccess webinar!**

As part of the **DigAccess Project's Digital Development Programme**, participants representing **Social Economy Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the agrotourism sector** explored how to create more **inclusive, accessible, and user-friendly digital experiences** for everyone.

During the interactive online workshop, attendees gained valuable insights into:
✅ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
✅ Accessible User Experience (UX) principles
✅ Assistive technologies and inclusive digital design
✅ Practical strategies to improve websites and digital content for people with disabilities, older adults, and all users

The webinar provided participants with practical tools to strengthen their digital presence while ensuring that their services are accessible to a wider audience—supporting the DigAccess mission of making tourism more inclusive and leaving no one behind.

A special thank you to our excellent trainer, **Anna Wojcieszczak **, and to all participants for their active engagement, valuable discussions, and commitment to building a more accessible future for agrotourism.

23/07/2026

Lietuvos kaimo turizmo asociacija Monika Sadauskaitė Pocė

16/07/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐂𝐒𝐓 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 EU Environment 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬!

🆕 Published yesterday, these guidelines outline how Europe's Natura 2000 network of Protected Areas can act as a powerful driver of sustainable tourism, while safeguarding the habitats and species it is designed to protect.

The publication specifically highlights EUROPARC's European Charter for Sustainable Tourism (ECST) as a best practice example on how foster collaboration when developping low impact sustainable tourism offers in Protected Areas.

💪 𝐀 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐂𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 & 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞!

Discover the full publication: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/natura-2000-network-offers-sustainable-tourism-opportunities-2026-07-14_en

14/07/2026

Rural Pact Community Pulse

What drives rural competitiveness? https://9wb83.r.sp1-brevo.net/mk/cl/f/sh/6rqJfgq8dINmOJwfjp0Rb9XADRN/KWcqwoDmK6O0


Share your views by 20 July
https://9wb83.r.sp1-brevo.net/mk/cl/f/sh/6rqJfgq8dIPRQmEpE8PzWkf5qkP/u8JSml62kLSs

Every two months, the Rural Pact Support Office launches a Community Pulse to gather the views and perspectives of the Rural Pact Community on key rural topics. These short polls help identify priorities, challenges and opportunities for rural areas across Europe.

The latest Community Pulse asks: what drives rural competitiveness?

If you have already completed the poll, thank you for your contribution! As responses are anonymous, we cannot identify participants and therefore cannot exclude previous respondents from this mailing.

Rural competitiveness is increasingly important in discussions on the future of rural areas and the post-2027 EU policy framework. The ability to attract and retain businesses, jobs and talent depends on a range of factors, including access to finance, skills, connectivity, services, housing, business support and local assets.

By taking just 2-3 minutes to complete this short, anonymous poll, you can share your views on:

the ability of rural areas to attract and retain businesses, jobs and talent;
the factors that contribute most to rural competitiveness; and
the areas that should receive priority in future National and Regional Partnership Plans.

The poll is available in all EU languages, enabling participants across the European Union to respond in their preferred language.
Share your views by 20 July

The results will help inform upcoming Rural Pact activities on rural competitiveness, including a Good Practice Webinar on strengthening rural businesses and local economies on 17 September https://9wb83.r.sp1-brevo.net/mk/cl/f/sh/6rqJfgq8dIR6TEWyiRpXSLn1U3R/0ZtNF51RvkKb and a Policy Action Lab on strengthening a diversified rural economy in the post-2027 period from 29 September to 1 October. https://9wb83.r.sp1-brevo.net/mk/cl/f/sh/6rqJfgq8dISlVgp8ClF5Nwux7MT/w_TCDdI6ZjVy

Your perspective matters! We encourage you to take part and share the poll within your networks so that as many rural voices as possible are heard.

03/07/2026

Lietuvos kaimo turizmo asociacija

01/07/2026

01/07/2026

Sign up by 17 August for the High-level Rural Policy Forum ‘Europe’s rural future: responding to rural priorities through integrated national and regional strategies and LEADER’ - link in the comments👇

Join us in Naas, Ireland to:
🔸 discuss integrated national & regional policy approaches for rural areas
🔸 share practical approaches for the design & implementation of rural strategies
🔸 exchange with practitioners & rural development stakeholders on the future of LEADER/CLLD post 2027

The event is organised by the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Commission with support from the Support Office.



EU Food & Farming Europe in my region ELARD aisbl European Rural Development Network Prepare AISBL ERCA - European Rural Community Alliance CAP Network Ireland Leader France GAL MERIDAUNIA Red Española de Desarrollo Rural (REDR)