This chapter contains an executive summary of the Rural Development Plan (RDP) for Estonia. 

The RDP has been drafted in accordance with the programming requirements of Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999. The Regulation lays down the framework for pre-accession assistance to agriculture and rural development (SAPARD) in the Central and Eastern European Countries for the period 2000-2006. 

The RDP identifies and analyses the problems and disparities of Estonian agriculture and rural areas compared to Urban Estonia and to the European Union and defines on this basis the objectives, strategy and measures to be implemented within the framework of the SAPARD programme. 

The objective of the plan and, in turn, the implementation of the SAPARD programme is to facilitate the transfer of the acquis communautaire, i.e. the common agricultural policy and rural development policy of the EU. Consequently, the RDP constitutes an important part of Estonia's overall ambition to obtain full membership of the EU.

The RDP has been prepared by the Estonian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) in close co-operation with relevant competent authorities and co-ordinated with economic and social partners. The MoA is the responsible authority for the implementation of the RDP.