(22 September 2014) – The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has published a preliminary draft opinion on “Community Led Local Development (CLLD) as a tool of Cohesion Policy 2014–2020 for local, rural, urban and peri-urban development”. It will organize a public hearing on the issue on 29 September.
According to the EESC, the LEADER approach has demonstrated its viability over the past twenty years. It has helped rural actors assess the long-term potential of their local regions and proven an effective and efficient tool in the delivery of development policies. The European Commission has used the Community Initiatives URBAN and EQUAL, among other things, to promote this partnership-based method of funding projects.
The aim of this opinion is to summarise the role of Local Action Groups in the 2014–2020 programming period and put forward some recommendations for implementing CLLD in the rural, peri-urban and urban environment. Community Led Local Development is intended to help the public develop their municipalities in a meaningful and sustainable way.
This opinion should serve as an aid in implementing pilot projects that would test the CLLD instrument in the peri-urban and, more particularly, the urban context, thus widening its potential sphere of application.