The High-level policy forum on “Europe’s rural future: Responding to rural priorities through integrated national and regional strategies and LEADER” was organised in Naas (Ireland) on 3-4 November 2026 by the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission with the support of the Rural Pact Support Office. The event brought together over 200 policymakers and stakeholders from all over Europe (as well as 1600 online participants) to discuss the importance of integrated rural policy in preparation of the next EU funding period and the role of LEADER and Community-Led Local Development (CLLD).
Rural areas can play a crucial role in helping Europe face the multiple challenges of the future. Recognising this, several Member States are putting in place integrated strategies for rural development going well beyond food, agriculture and forestry and covering entrepreneurship, education, health, mobility, energy, new technologies and much more. Following a successful implementation of Ireland’s “Our Rural Future”, a whole-of-government approach to rural areas for 2021-2025, the Irish government recently launched its next phase, “Our Rural Future 2026-2031”. Examples of bringing together different policies and funding streams for a comprehensive response to rural needs and opportunities from other Member States and regions (including Finland, Tuscany in Italy and Tyrol in Austria) were also presented.
The second day of the Forum turned the spotlight on LEADER/CLLD, bringing together researchers, practitioners, Local Action Groups, ministries and European institutions to reflect on 35 years of LEADER/CLLD and its future role in Europe’s policy architecture. Through presentations, stakeholder panels and political debates, participants highlighted LEADER’s contribution not only as a funding instrument, but as a governance approach that enables communities to identify priorities, build partnerships and mobilise local action.
Discussions repeatedly stressed that rural development cannot be delivered by a single ministry or sector. Just as housing, mobility, healthcare, education or employment challenges are interconnected in people’s daily lives, policies addressing them must also become more integrated. Against this backdrop, LEADER was frequently presented as a practical mechanism for translating broad strategic objectives into place-based action designed and implemented by local actors. The examples presented during the stakeholder sessions demonstrated how Local Action Groups help communities tackle complex challenges by bringing together citizens, businesses, public authorities and civil society around shared local priorities. Looking ahead to the post-2027 period, discussions focused on how LEADER and broader Community-Led Local Development approaches can be embedded within the future National and Regional Partnership Plans.
Throughout the event, the speakers and participants, from high-level politicians to practitioners on the ground, offered different perspectives but were surprisingly unanimous. Europe needs to invest in rural areas to remain competitive and resilient to crises, and rural inhabitants have the right to stay in their territories rather than migrate in search for better jobs, education or quality of life. This requires the involvement of all the relevant ministries, services and levels of governance. A recurring message was that rural communities should be involved in policy design and implementation from the earliest stages of planning and that sufficient resources should be reserved for bottom-up local development.
Several speakers emphasised that the value of LEADER lies in its ability to generate trust, cooperation and long-term capacity through animation, networking and collective decision-making. Many participants called for strong and ring-fenced support for LEADER, recognising its unique contribution to connecting European priorities with local realities.
The debate concluded with a broad consensus that integrated rural policies and LEADER are mutually reinforcing. While integrated strategies help ensure that rural issues are addressed across government, LEADER provides the local partnerships, trust and community ownership needed to make those strategies meaningful on the ground. After 35 years of implementation, the programme continues to be regarded as one of Europe’s most effective tools for turning rural ambitions into lasting local action.
The Rural Pact Support Office is shortly going to publish a Policy Briefing on “How to foster integrated approaches for rural areas in the National and Regional Partnership Plans”, of which a draft version was made available prior to the event.
Urszula Budzich-Tabor & Alistair Adam Hernández
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