The rural areas outside Objective 1 regions that may receive Community assistance under Objective 5 (b) are those which have a low level of socio-economic development assessed on the basis of GDP per inhabitant and also satisfy at least two of the following three criteria: (a) high share of agricultural employment in total employment; (b) low level of agricultural income, in particular as expressed in terms of agricultural value added per agricultural work unit (AWU); (c) low population density and/or a significant depopulation trend.
