AEIDL has published a new discussion paper, authored by Raquel Pastor Carretero and Serafin Pazos-Vidal from AEIDL’s Rural and Territorial Development team.
The paper examines how the proposed 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) could redefine the future of LEADER and Community‑Led Local Development (CLLD). It warns that the shift to a Single Fund and to National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) represents the most significant governance overhaul in three decades, with far‑reaching implications for rural development.
Under the Commission’s proposal, the EAFRD would formally disappear as a standalone fund, fully integrated into the new structure. While the Commission has since suggested an earmarked 10% rural objective, the paper highlights that no dedicated LEADER budget is foreseen, breaking with a long‑standing guarantee that protected the method’s visibility and autonomy. Without such safeguards Local Action Groups (LAGs) risk being reduced to administrative intermediaries, losing their role as catalysts of local innovation, participation, and territorial transformation.
Looking ahead, the paper outlines five strategic avenues to revitalise the approach in the next programming period, including stronger territorial cooperation, concentration of resources through “umbrella projects”, renewed investment in social capital, and monitoring systems that capture LEADER’s intangible but essential contributions to local democracy and community resilience.
The paper concludes that the coming months will be decisive. The post‑2027 framework could either erode LEADER as a distinctive tool for place‑based development, or reactivate its original ambition, but only if EU institutions, Member States and LAGs jointly safeguard its core features and ensure it remains embedded in Europe’s Long Term Vision for Rural Areas.
Click to read the full Discussion Paper.
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