What is the LEADER programme?
LEADER (in French: Liaison entre Actions de Développement de l’Économie Rurale) is a European programme of rural development that supports the development of rural territories.
Launched in 1991 by the European Commission, the LEADER programme aims to address the challenges faced by rural areas by providing them with financial and technical support to design and implement a joint local development strategy.
As the territorial component of the EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development), LEADER is designed as an approach to support multi-sectoral strategies, developed and managed by rural areas themselves. It thus provides a favourable framework for the emergence of collective and high-quality projects. The programme is based on the approach of Community-Led Local Development (CLLD).
This programme involves a wide range of stakeholders from different sectors — public, private, and civil society — working on rural development across various fields such as short supply chains, energy transition, culture, tourism, and the local economy.
Nowadays, the LEADER programme represents Europe at the closest level to rural areas and stands as a symbol of the European Union’s policy for rural territories.
The 7 principles of LEADER
- Collaboration between various stakeholders
- Integrated and multi-sectoral approach
- Support for innovation
- Cooperation with other rural territories
- Local public-private collaborative decision-making partnership
- Bottom-up and participatory approach
- Local development strategy
What is funded by the LEADER programme?
- Maintenance and development of public services
- Support for local supply chains
- Tourism
- Revitalisation of town and village centres
- And many more! (Mobility, Sustainable Energy, Aging, etc.)
The French Local Action Groups (LAGs), as frontline groupings of local stakeholders, are entrusted with a LEADER budget for an eligible project, following approval by their managing authority.
The management process takes place in several steps, as illustrated in the diagram below:
Local Action Groups (LAGs)
Local Action Groups (LAGs) bring together local stakeholders working on a local development strategy through innovative projects that focus both on community engagement and territorial planning.
The French LEADER territories for the 2023–2027 programming period
- 308 LAGs
- Around 28 000 municipalities
- 29 million inhabitants