LEADER: a mixed and contrasting assessment in terms of added value - Illustration based on the LEADER regional assessment in Auvergne

Abstract

Introduced by the European community in the early 1990s to remedy the structural development difficulties of rural areas, the LEADER community initiative program has gained ground. Strengthened over the generations, it finally established itself in the landscape of support mechanisms for rural development through its integration into the EAFRD for the period 2007-2013. It is generally presented as a specific intervention mechanism in terms of both its implementation and its original spectrum of intervention (Buller, 2000). With the support of a local decision-making body associating public and private partners (the Local Action Group), it enables the concerted definition of a local transversal development strategy, making it possible to mobilize resources and respond to specific challenges of the territory. Technical and financial support for local actors is planned with the aim of stimulating the implementation of innovative, emerging projects according to a bottom-up logic. In line with its vocation of supporting the sustainable development of the territory, it seeks in particular to support private economic players in order to enable the creation of activities and jobs in rural areas. However, it differs from "classic" support mechanisms through the implementation of the development strategy built and backed by the territory. This strategy is reflected in the support of original projects, promoting local resources identified for their correspondence with the founding principles of the program. The difference between "classic" support and "LEADER" support is what is often referred to as "LEADER added value". We highlight the fundamental importance of the coordination of local actors in the implementation of the program at the service of projects "with an economic purpose" and in particular its central role in the program's capacity to express its specificity. We did so through the experience of the regional evaluation of actions to support economic initiatives in LEADER in the Auvergne Region, carried out as part of a wider work on the evaluation of the 2nd pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy. After presenting the Leader program and the evaluation process, the main results of each of the two phases of the evaluation will be explained. They lead to the observation that in reaction to the constraints that limit the program's capacity to reach its target in terms of economic development, the Auvergne territories have adapted, some by a shift towards other intervention priorities, others by a qualitative shift towards private projects with low added value.