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The framework of CLLD under the CSF from a rural perspective

Pedro BROSEI

DG Agri G.1 Consistency of rural development

CEMR, 18 April 2012

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Community-led local development (CLLD) in the new framework

• Europe 2020 strategy: Territorial development on sub-regional level as a cross-cutting issue for inclusive growth

• CSF addresses CLLD as a tool for territorial development

• Partnership Contracts (PC) will have to address CLLD

• Common Provisions Regulation for the CSF Funds: offers a common approach to support community-led local development: single set of rules (art. 28-31), which are complemented by fund-specific features (in case of EAFRD and EMFF).

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Community-led local development in the CSF

• CLLD (based on the experience of LEADER under rural development) can complement and enhance the delivery of public policies for all CSF Funds.

• It aims at increasing effectiveness and efficiency of territorial development strategies by delegating decision-making and implementation to a local partnership of public, private and civil society actors.

• CLLD should be implemented in the context of a strategic approach, to ensure that the ‘bottom-up’ definition of local needs takes account of priorities set at a higher level.

Member States will therefore have to define the national approach to community-led local development across the CSF Funds…

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CSF: References to CLLD in the PC

• main challenges that MS intend to tackle, along with the main objectives and priorities, and the types of territories where this approach should be implemented

• which specific role will be attributed to the local action groups in its delivery

• how the CSF Funds will be used together

• role envisaged for the different Funds in different types of territories (rural, urban etc.)

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Correspondence between PC and RDPPartnership Contract (Art. 14 Common Provisions Regulation)

Rural development programmes (Art. 9 RD Regulation)

14 (b)(i): mechanisms ensuring coordination between CSF Funds and other Union/national policies and the EIB

14(b)(ii): arrangements for integrated approach for the use of CSF Funds for territorial development of urban, rural, coastal and fisheries areas

14 (c): integrated approach to address specific needs of particular areas/target groups (poverty, risk of discrimination/exclusion, marginalised communities…)

9(1)(m): focus on coordination first – second pillar

9(1)(f): focus on coordination mechanisms between LEADER and other measures fostering local development in rural areas

9(1)(b) : SWOT analysis (in particular as regards Priority 6)

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Definition of the CLLD method – Art. 28.1 CPR

• Focused on specific sub-regional territories, which should be rural in case of LEADER/EAFRD, but can also be mixed with urban or coastal in case of coordinated “multi-funding”) Requirements on the definition of the areas and the population in a delegated act (Art.

29.6)

• Community-led, by local action groups composed of representatives of public and private socio-economic interests, where at decision-making level neither the public sector nor any single interest group shall represent more than 49% of the voting rights

• Carried out through integrated and multi-sectoral area based local development strategies

• Takes into consideration local needs and potential, including local innovation, networking, cooperation

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Definition of the CLLD method – Art. 28.2 CPR

• Support to local development shall be consistent and coordinated between the CSF Funds

• Through i.a. coordinated capacity-building, selection, approval and funding of local development strategies and local development groups

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CSF key actions as regards CLLD in the different Funds

• ESF: CSF Thematic Objective No. 9 - Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty:

support the preparation, the running and the animation of local strategies; support the activities designed and implemented under the local strategy in areas falling within the scope of ESF in the fields of employment, education, social inclusion and institutional capacity building

• ERDF: CSF Thematic Objective No. 9 - Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty:

fostering community-led local development strategies through support for the capacity-building of the local action groups and the preparation, the running and animation of local strategies, and through support for the activities designed and implemented under the local strategy in areas falling within the scope of the ERDF in the fields of social inclusion and physical and economic regeneration

• EMFF: specific objectives for CLLD in the EMFF Reg., link to Thematic Objectives of diversification, promoting employment in fisheries communities and therefore indirectly also to No. 9

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CSF key actions as regards CLLD for the EAFRD

CSF Thematic Objective No. 9: Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty, which reflects RD Priority 6:

• fostering local development in rural areas by promoting community-led local development and social inclusion (LEADER local development strategies)

• Independently from this CSF focus, all other RD priorities can be addressed with LEADER !

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To be taken into account…

As regards Thematic Objective No. 9, CSF makes specific reference to Social Innovation for all the Funds

Integrated territorial investments (ITIs) for the ERDF, ESF and Cohesion Fund: integrated investment strategies for certain territories or functional area to be implemented by local authorities; certain components can be implemented through CLLD, combining the two approaches

• Under the EAFRD, LEADER is compulsory with a minimum of 5% of the EAFRD funding per programme. No ring-fencing for community-led local development in the other Funds.

• Maximum co-financing rates in LEADER (Art. 65.4 EAFRD Reg.):• up to 80% in “other regions” (instead of 50%);

• up to 90% in the less developed regions (instead of 85%)

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Legal basis for LEADER / Community-led local development

Art. 28-31 CPR + Art. 42-45 EAFRD:

• Art. 28 CPR: Definition of method; consistency and coordination between CSF Funds; possibility for „lead Fund“

• Art. 29 CPR: Local development strategies (Minimum requirements; selection procedure – in view of „multi-funding“)

• Art. 30 CPR + Art. 42.1 EAFRD: Local action groups (division of roles with authorities; minimum tasks)

• Art. 31 CPR: Operations that will be supported

– + Art. 43 EAFRD: Preparatory support

– Implementation of operations under the LDS

– + Art. 44 EAFRD: Preparation and implementation of cooperation activities

– + Art 45 EAFRD: Running costs and animation

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„Multi-funding“ of LDS/ „Lead-Fund“:Art. 28.3 + 28.4 CPR

• Art. 28.3 CPR: Local development strategies are selected for EU funding by a selection committee under the responsibility of the relevant managing authorities (see Art. 29.3); can be financed from several EU instruments in parallel … “Multi-funding” as an option!

• Art. 28.3 + 4 CPR: If the decision of the selection committee determines that the LDS requires multi-fund support (as requested in the LDS, see Art. 29.1 c+g), MS can designate a „lead Fund“ which covers all management costs (running costs, animation and networking)– simplification in management; choice of the “lead Fund” will probably depend on the activities foreseen in the LDS and the area in question

• Art. 28.5 CPR: Local development carried out by the CSF Funds shall be carried out under one or more priorities of the programme.

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Example of a „multi-funded“ LDS

Local action group

ERDF

ESF EAFRD

EMFF

Local governments Local entrepreneurs Local NGOs, civil society

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Project 3EAFRD

Project 3EMFF

Running costs, animation, networking

possibly through „lead

Fund“

Project 1ERDF

Project 2ESF

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Local development strategies:Art. 29 CPR

• Art. 29.1: Minimum requirements for LDS

(a) the definition of the area and population covered by the strategy;

(b) an analysis of the development needs and potential of the area, including a SWOT analysis;

(c) a description of the strategy and its objectives, a description of the integrated and innovative character of the strategy and a hierarchy of objectives, including clear and measurable targets for outputs or results.

(d) a description of the process of community involvement in the development of the strategy;

(e) an action plan demonstrating how objectives are translated into actions;

(f) a description of the management and monitoring arrangements of the strategy, demonstrating the capacity of the local action group to implement the strategy and a description of specific arrangements for evaluation;

(g) the financial plan of the strategy, including the planned allocation of each of the CSF Funds.

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LDS selection/approval process:Art. 29.2 to 29.5 CPR

• Art. 29.2: MS shall define citeria for the selection of LDS. Fund-specific rules may set out selection criteria. EAFRD Reg. is not setting out selection criteria.

• Art. 29.3: Managing autorities have to set up the selection committee in case of „multifunding“, the authorities responsible for the different Funds

• Art. 29.4: LDS should be approved by the end of 2015 to allow sufficient time for implementation

• Art. 29.5: The decision to approve a local development strategy by the managing authority should

– set out the allocations of each CSF Fund

– set out the roles of the authorities responsible for the implementation of the relevant programmes for all implementation tasks relating to the strategy

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Local action groups:Art. 30 CPR

• Art. 30.1: Principle that LAGs shall design and implement the LDS as well as responsibility of MS to define the roles of the LAG and the authorities for all implementation tasks

• Art. 30.2: Legally constituted structure or lead partner in administrative and financial matters

• Art. 30.3: Minimum tasks of LAGs(a) Building the capacity of local actors to develop and implement operations;

(b) Drawing up a non-discriminatory and transparent selection procedure and criteria for the selection of operations, which avoids conflicts of interest, that shall ensure that at least 50% of the votes in selection decisions are from the non public sector partners, providing for the possibility of appeal against selection decisions and allowing selection by written procedure

(c to g on next slide)

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Local action groups:Art. 30 CPR

• Art. 30.3: Minimum tasks of LAGs (continued)

(c) Ensuring coherence with the LDS when selecting operations, by prioritising them according to their contribution to meeting the strategies‘ objectives and targets;

(d) Preparing and publishing calls for proposals or an ongoing project submission procedure, including definition of selection criteria;

(e) Receiving applications for support and assessing them;

(f) Selecting operations and fixing the amount of support, and where relevant, presenting the proposals to the responsible body for final verification before approval

(g) Monitoring the implementation of the LDS and the operations supported and carrying out specific evaluation activities linked to the LDS

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Eligible actions under Leader:Art. 31 CPR + Art. 43-45 EAFRD

4 categories of actions:

• Preparatory support:

Art. 31 (a) CPR + Art. 43 EAFRD

• Implementation of operations under the LDS:

Art. 31 (b) CPR

• Preparation and implementation of cooperation activities:

Art. 31 (c) CPR + Art. 44 EAFRD

• Running costs and animation up to 25% of the LDS budget:

Art. 31 (d) CPR + Art 45 EAFRD

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Leader in the context of „multi-funded“ community-led local development under the CSF

The challenges:

• To allow rural territories to implement really integrated and multi-sectoral strategies by benefitting from all EU-Funds impacts on „size“ of Leader?

• To improve rural-urban and rural-coastal relationships

• To improve intervention as regards the coverage of social issues in the Leader territories

What we expect:

• 2014-2020 as „phasing-in“ for multi-funded CLLD

• Political will in MS to go ahead with the approach

..to be seen…

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Thank you very much for your attention!