Development of rural areas in Poland is hampered by several barriers of economic, technical and social nature. This situation can be improved by adopting the policy of multifunctional development of rural areas. However, the implementation of such a policy requires financial means that cannot be provided from the state budget. Alternative sources of financing include pre-accession programmes of the European Union (PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD). The possibility of financing multifunctional development of rural areas in Poland from EU programme SAPARD was discussed in the paper.