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This new year marked the opening of operations for new rural development financing program committing the European Union up to 2020. The new RDP, which includes specific measures for the purchase of machinery and equipment, must come through the consultations of the EU Member States responsible for setting priorities and criteria for assigning funds to become operative

The reform of the European Union Common Agriculture Policy brought in a reduction of overall resources of 13% under the previous PAC. The cuts are adjusted for each single country and are expected to lead to a further 6% reduction in the budget assigned to Italy. Some additional resources under the Rural Development heading with an overall sum of resources for the seven years 2014-2020 coming to 10.4 billion euro. Bureaucratic complications among the critical points of the reform

Over the past five years the Italian agricultural machinery market has been subjected to a decline of 30% and is still a cause for worry when compared to sales trends in such countries as Germany and France where gains are reported. A survey conducted by Nomisma for FederUnacoma based on past data and interviews carried out on a sample of 800 agricultural enterprises has drawn a focus on the reasons behind this trend. Uncertainty on the future of farms, increasing recourse to contractors and the retrofitting of machinery already in farm inventories are among the factors putting the brake on the acquisition of new machinery.