Despite being one of the most controversial EU policies, little is known about whether and how the EU has encouraged the adoption of Common Agricultural Policy elements beyond its borders. This thesis investigates how the CAP is externally governed, how effective it has been, and what consequences it had on ‘rural spaces’, a concept developed in this thesis. It applies the external governance framework to two rural development instruments in Georgia and finds different modes of external governance within one policy framework, to be explained by domestic factors. Yet, despite differing modes and the absence of EU hierarchy, both instruments demonstrate similar consequences such as the ‘Europeanisation’ of rural spaces and the further empowerment of existing elites. Thereby, the thesis makes two conceptual contributions. First, it expands the concept of effectiveness in EU external governance. Second, it enhances connections between political geography and EU studies through the concept of rural space.