A comparative analysis of the coherence of Italian Rural Development Programs 2007-2013

The objectives of this paper are twofold. The first is to analyze the Italian Rural Development Programs in order to investigate how Italian regional authorities have interpreted the potential role of the new RD programs and identified the specific strategies to be pursued. The second objective is to evaluate the coherence between strategies and tools indicated in the different programs. For developing the analysis we will adopt the menu approach (Terluin and Venema, 2004). We will analyze three main steps which have to be taken in applying this method: (1) identification of rural development priorities; (2) selection of rural development measures coherent with these rural development priorities; and (3) allocation of financial means to these rural development measures. Following this approach, 21 Italian Rural Development Programs will be compared.