This webinar took place successfully with 50 active participants on 28 May 2025.
The full recording of the webinar is available HERE.
The presentations of the speakers are available below.
Summary of the event
At the time when decision-makers at EU level were preparing to publish the draft legislation of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework for post-2027, numerous stakeholder groups expressed their concern and published position papers and declarations aiming to ensure that the needs and opportunities of different types of areas would not be forgotten in the drive towards competitiveness and security. This webinar provided an overview and critical analysis of the key opinions and arguments in favour of maintaining strong EU support to territorial and place-based approaches, followed by a discussion how the hopes and expectations of local actors can be taken into account, and the voice of local communities can be heard in this crucial policy debate.
After opening remarks by LDnet Vice-Chair, Urszula Budzich-Tabor, and LDnet Chair Peter Ramsden, Urszula Budzich-Tabor reminded participants some of the key points from the previous webinar on this topic (from 19 February 2025).
Serafin Pazos Vidal stressed that even though the European Commission’s proposals have not yet been formally published, certain minor modifications have already been introduced compared to the initial plans, but the basic principles such as result-based management or structural reforms will remain unchanged. Once the Commission launches the draft legislation, it will be time for civil society and local actors to react and make concrete proposals for changes. He suggested some practical approaches that don’t require major modifications of the Commission’s intentions, including a re-positioning of local development, simplifying rules for LEADER in line with those of Horizon Europe, or an improved definition of declining territories; he also stressed the importance of advocacy at the national level with key decisionmakers in charge of budgetary discussions (e.g. ministers of finance).
These introductory comments were followed by the presentation of two key positions of local stakeholders, one prepared by the Rural Pact Coordination Group, and the other by the European LEADER Association for Rural Development.
Radim Sršeň, Chair of the Rural Pact Coordination Group (RPCG) (and also Czechia’s Deputy Minister for Regional Development and member of the European Committee of the Regions) pointed out that the EC proposals, which are likely to be modelled on the Recovery and Resilience Fund, focus too much on narrowly understood competitiveness – while the biggest competitive advantage of Europe is its quality of life: that’s why maintaining Cohesion Policy is crucial. The RPCG was created to help steer the Rural Pact, which mobilises different stakeholders to act for rural areas, but the voice of rural communities is not yet sufficiently heard compared to that of farmers or big cities. The RPCG Declaration adopted in December 2024 calls for a holistic (not sectoral) approach to rural development. A good model could be Czechia, where integrated instruments funded from a variety of sources are used to deliver results in rural areas.
Piotr Sadłocha, president of the European LEADER Association for Rural Development (ELARD) stressed that for Local Action Groups (LAGs) across Europe it is important to ensure, on the one hand, that rural citizens have the same opportunities as urban ones, and on the other, that Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) is more widely applied in the next funding period. ELARD launched a petition to the European Commission, calling for participatory rural development tools mandatory across all EU member states.
The following points were raised in the discussion:
– to safeguard the place of local development in the next period, it is important to make very clear and concrete proposals;
– it would also be important to show decision-makers that investing in local development can help them solve specific policy problems (for example, difficulties in delivering public services);
– there is need to build capacity of public administration at all levels, especially national but also regional and local, so that they know how to apply the partnership principle;
– it is also necessary to build the capacity of managing authorities of Integrated Territorial Investments to better understand and address local needs outside big cities.
The keynote listener, Joaquim Oliveira Martins, pointed out that stakeholders active in local development have strong arguments, but their narrative would be more convincing if linked with the wider macro-economic context. Mainstream economics often tends to separate equity and efficiency, or even seeing it as a trade-off. However, there can also be synergies between them. Local development can help link growth with well-being and sustainability (e.g. green or inclusive growth). One can connect equity and efficiency, through investments in knowledge, culture, trust, or security, as well as climate change mitigation. The key objective of EU structural funding is mainly to achieve aggregate productivity growth. While a significant share of this growth is generated in big cities, there is a need to mobilise medium-sized towns and rural areas through linkages and complementarities across regions. Local development stakeholders should appropriate these arguments when they make their case for local development actions.
For the background to this webinar and its agenda read on …
On 19 February 2025 LDnet organised a webinar with a lively discussion about the future shape of EU policies and the potential consequences for local communities in urban and rural areas. As decisionmakers at EU level are preparing to publish the draft legislation of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework for post-2027, numerous stakeholder groups express their concern and publish position papers and declarations aiming to ensure that the needs and opportunities of different types of areas are not forgotten in the drive towards competitiveness and security, which are likely to dominate the new period’s legislative and financial proposals.
The second part of the discussion will take place online on Wednesday 28 May 2025 at 16.30 CEST and will propose an overview and critical analysis of the key opinions and arguments in favour of maintaining strong EU support to territorial and place-based approaches, and stimulate a discussion how the hopes and expectations of local actors can be taken into account, and the voice of local communities can be heard in this crucial policy debate.
Speakers:
- Urszula Budzich Tabor, LDnet
- Radim Sršeň, Deputy Minister for Regional Development in Czechia and Member of the Committee of the Regions, Chair of Rural Pact Coordination Group
- Piotr Sadłocha, President, European LEADER Association for Rural Development,
- Serafin Pazos Vidal, AEIDL
- Joaquim Oliveira, CEPII, Paris and former Special Advisor to the EU Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms
Agenda:
16.30 – 16.40 Welcome by LDnet President, Peter Ramsden
16.40 – 16.50 Introduction: what progress since our last meeting? by Urszula Budzich-Tabor (LDnet)
16.50 – 17.05 Which voices are heard in the debate? by Serafin Pazos Vidal (AEIDL)
17.05 – 17.15 Call for a shift in future policies: the Declaration on the future of rural areas and rural development policy in the EU, by Radim Sršeň (Deputy Minister for Regional Development in Czechia and Member of the Committee of the Regions, Chair of Rural Pact Coordination Group)
17.15 – 17.25 A strong voice for community-led approaches: ELARD petition on LEADER/CLLD as a pillar for EU development, by Piotr Sadłocha (President, European LEADER Association for Rural Development)
17.25 – 17.50 What scope for local communities to have a say on the future policies? Discussion moderated by Peter Ramsden and Urszula Budzich-Tabor
17.50 – 18.00 Comments from keynote listener, by Joaquim Oliveira (CEPII, Paris and former Special Advisor to the EU Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms)
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