This report examines the reforms andpolicy changes necessary in the rural section of the tencountries that have started the accession process foreventual membership in the European Union (Bulgaria, CzechRepublic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia). The papers in this reportare selected from the presentations at the Third WorldBank/FAO EU Accession Workshop held in Sofia, Bulgaria, onJune 17-20, 2000, and are organized around four topics: 1)Defining the concepts of rural development-options for EUaccession candidate countries; 2) Rural development in theEuropean Union; 3) Rural development in Central and EasternEurope; and 4) International experiences and the role ofinternational organizations in supporting rural developmentin the EU accession countries.