Agriculture and rural areas have special economic specificities, which determine their study not as an economic sector, but rather as geographical entities. Productivity cannot be homogeneously distributed territorially because the quality of the land varies considerably. Consequently, agriculture and rural areas cannot be left only to competitive markets but must be supported and financed. In the EU, there has been a common policy of support for several decades, based on two financing pillars. The objectives of this policy were initially based mostly on supporting Agricultural productivity, but more recently goals related to the environment and the complex development of rural areas have been added. Although the funding was very high, there is still the question of the efficiency and equity of this common policy. Our analysis explains the differentiated effects on the EU countries through theoretical arguments and statistical data on the EU countries.