Council Regulation (EC) 1290/2005[10] of 21 June 2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy provided for the creation of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) for the financing of rural development programmes.
[12] However, finalisation of the Programme has been delayed due to the EU regulation that would give legal basis to European Council agreement on voluntary modulation, a method of funding which switches money from direct payments to farmers to Rural Development Programmes, having been blocked by the European Parliament.
[13][14] On 19 March 2007, the European Agriculture Council voted unanimously in favour of a regulation on voluntary modulation tabled by the German Presidency.
[15] The European Parliament agreed, on the basis of this text and associated declarations, to lift its 20% reserve on EU rural development budgets for 2007.
[19] Version 15 was finally modified on 8 June 2022 in a document endorsed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and Defra.