Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
LEADER European Observatory The complementarities between LEADER+ and other policies, rural development in particular FRANCE Status : January 2000 EN 1 BACKGROUND “To progress from a one-stop-shop rationale to a project rationale”. This heavily symbolic phrase coined by the French Minister for the Environment and for National Planning and Development, during the debate concerning the law on sustainable national planning and development of June 1999, has set the tone for France’s plans and its terms appear to be in the process of being fully defined in the circulars currently under preparation. In order to fully comprehend the conditions under which the Community programmes will be implemented in France, one has to bear in mind that they will be carried out concomitantly with the new national procedures. CONTRATS DE PLAN ETAT REGION (CPER) LES PAYS ET LES AGGLOMERATIONS CONTRATS TERRITORIAUX D’EXPLOITATION (CTE) PROGRAMMES DES CONSEILS REGIONAUX What all of these procedures have in common is that they make a portion of public funding conditional upon the existence of a territorial project. So, for example, 20% of the CPER is reserved for individual or collective projects emanating from the organised territories. This percentage constitutes the territorial strand of the programme. The fact that these national and European procedures are implemented over the same 2000/2006 calendar period is fortunate because it ought to guarantee good coherence between the programmes (strategic issues, accounting management, evaluation, mobilisation, transparency, additionality, etc.). In concrete terms, 5 aspects of programme implementation should be pointed out. Integrated approach Links between the various procedures Coherence in zoning and territories Selection of the LAGs Financial and administrative management of the procedures LEADER Seminar Potsdam (Germany) 17/19 February 2000 & Venice (Italy) 9/11 March 2000 1 LEADER European Observatory 1 Integrated approach Whereas in the past the integrated approach was applied only to LEADER, from now on it will also be integrated into Objective 2 and the RDR. The circular under preparation provides for the Single Programming Documents (SPDs) to contain territorial (sub-regional) strands match-funded by the territorial strand of the CPERs. They will be reserved for organised territories with a comprehensive strategy and will be used mainly to finance studies, the setting up of programmes, “animation”, etc. Specific actions and special adjustments may be financed by these territorial strands. It is important that these territorial strands adopt an integrated approach and avoid any risk of specialisation. A recent study carried out in connection with the 5b SPD during the 1994-1999 programming period, highlighted the contribution of regions that had already opted for a certain degree of territorialisation, Burgandy for example. 2 Links between the various procedures The RDR will include a national strand and a regional strand. The national strand will serve to co-finance the CTE and will include actions relating to: Investment in farms Setting up of young farmers Training Early retirement Agri-environmental measures Afforestation Other forestry measures Compensatory allowances for mountainous area The regional strand is reserved for the areas eligible for Objective 2 and for phasing-out. This strand will, on its own or with the national strand, concern the other Article 33 measures: Land improvement Reparcelling Farm relief services Marketing of quality products Basic services for the rural community Village renovation and development Diversification of activities Management of water resources Infrastructure connected with the development of agriculture Tourism and craft activities Environmental protection LEADER Seminar Potsdam (Germany) 17/19 February 2000 & Venice (Italy) 9/11 March 2000 2 LEADER European Observatory Reconstruction following natural disasters Financial engineering. The regional strand will be managed alongside Objective 2 within the same SPD. In order to make them transparent to final beneficiaries, the Objective 2 SPDs and the regional RDR will be combined into a single document. The SPDs will contain three types of strand: Horizontal Territorial Interregional This development is encouraging because, in a way, it reflects an adoption of some of the specific features of both LEADER and the policy of “pays”. In their analytical section, SPDs must provide sub-analyses and strategies that differ in line with each territory. 3 Coherence in zoning The ministerial circular under preparation strongly recommends the regional authorities to avoid inappropriately splitting project territories from European zones. For instance, the boundaries of the “pays” should be respected in order to avoid creating an eligible zone and a non-eligible zone within a single “pays”. However, there is a real risk of a situation arising in which there will be coexisting but distinct European, national and regional areas of intervention. 4 Selection of LAGs To avoid repeating the mistakes of Leader II, France intends to return to national selection, as with Leader I, but with regional consultation. The selection would be made on the basis of a set of requirements that has already been used for a DATAR call for projects in connection with the “pays”. This set of requirements includes all of the criteria used for determining whether or not an integrated approach exists: Studies and mapping have been carried out Local mobilisation Territorial sub-sets have been taken into account A genuine partnership Functioning of the structure Comprehensive project Evaluation procedures LEADER Seminar Potsdam (Germany) 17/19 February 2000 & Venice (Italy) 9/11 March 2000 3 LEADER European Observatory 5 Programme management and implementation For Leader+, France will return to the system of allocating a global grant to a single national intermediary body, which will then be responsible for transferring the funds to the LAGs. LAGs with public status will receive such funds and be responsible for disbursing them to the final beneficiaries. Private LAGs will also be allowed to manage funds provided they have a bank guarantee. The intermediary body will also have a monitoring and control task. As yet there have been no real negotiations concerning national coordination. Contact : DATAR Fanny Labarthe 1, Avenue Ch. Floquet F-75343 PARIS Tél: +33/1/40 65 12 34 (standard) Fax:+33/1/40 65 11 85 Written by Jean Charles Lollier LEADER Seminar Potsdam (Germany) 17/19 February 2000 & Venice (Italy) 9/11 March 2000 4