1 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Community-led local development Articles of the Common Provisions Regulation

2 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Community-led local development Roots in LEADER (EAFRD) and Axis 4 of the EFF; applicability of the method extended to ERDF and ESF At the moment, local action groups (EAFRD/EFF) potentially benefit from different Funds, but not in a coordinated way The common approach for all policies as set out in the proposed provisions enable MS and territories/LAGs to coordinate the integrated use of all CSF Funds

3 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Reminder Background: The Common Strategic Framework (CSF) to strengthen the coordination and integration of EU policies for the delivery of the Europe 2020 strategy: Territorial development on sub-regional level as a cross-cutting issue for inclusive growth Legal proposals of the Commission for : A common instrument/approach to support community-led local development: based on a single set of rules with policy-specific features  Reinforcing multi level governance through „multi-funded“ local development strategies Common goal of the different EU Policies (Cohesion, Rural Development, Maritime & Fisheries) : To improve strategic choices at Member State level regarding local development

4 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Definition – Art. 28 §1 (a)Focused on specific sub-regional territories, which can be urban, rural, coastal, cross-border or a mix of several (b)Community-led: implemented by the local community through public-private partnerships - cannot be implemented by the municipality alone (c)Carried out through integrated and multi-sectoral area based local development strategies: (selected jointly under the responsibility of the relevant managing authorities; Art. 29.3) (d)Takes into consideration local needs and potential, including local innovation, networking, cooperation

5 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Guiding principle – Art. 28 §2 Consistency and coordination of the support to CLLD between the CSF Funds  ensured through coordination of: –Capacity building –Selection and approval of the local development strategies –Funding of the implementation of the LDS

6 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Management at MS level Local development strategies are selected for EU funding under the responsibility of the relevant managing authorities (see Art. 29.3); can be financed from several EU instruments in parallel (see for example Art. 29.5) … “Multi-funding” as an option! If the LDS are multi-fund, MS can designate a „lead Fund“ (Art ) which covers all management costs – simplification in management Choice of the “lead Fund” depends on the activities foreseen and the area in question

7 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Local action group ERDF ESFEAFRD EMFF Local governmentsLocal entrepreneursLocal NGOs, civil society LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Project 3 EAFRD Project 3 EMFF Running costs, animation, networking Possibly though „lead Fund “ Project 1 ERDF Project 2 ESF Example of a „multi-fund“ local development strategy

8 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Local development strategies Minimum requirements (Art. 29.1): the definition of the area and population covered by the strategy (subject to delegated acts, Art.29.6); an analysis of the development needs and potential of the area, including an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; 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. a description of the process of community involvement in the development of the strategy; an action plan demonstrating how objectives are translated into actions; 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; the financial plan of the strategy, including the planned allocation of each of the CSF Funds.

9 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion LDS selection/approval process Art. 29 §2 to 5 MS define selection criteria Selection undertaken under the responsibility of relevant managing authorities (jointly) 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 Decision on “Lead Fund” at the level of each LDS (Art. 29.4) LDS should be approved by the end of 2015 to allow sufficient time for implementation

10 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Local action groups – Art. 30 Legally constituted structure or lead partner in administrative and financial matters (Art. 30.2) Composition: no interest group should represent more than 49% of voting rights (part of the CLLD principle; Art. 28.1) Project selection – at least 50% of the votes from non-public sector partners Local action groups should at least: –Carry out capacity building actions for local actors –Draw up project selection criteria, assess and select operations for financing under the local development strategy (… role of the managing authority in the approval of the projects remains an administrative and political choice in each MS, see Art.30.3 f) –Monitor the implementation of the local development strategy and the operations supported, evaluation activities Local action groups can fulfil additional functions

11 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Interventions eligible under community- led local development (Art. 31) The CSF Funds can cover: the costs of preparatory support implementation of operations under the local development strategy (including physical investment) preparation and implementation of cooperation activities of the local action group running costs and animation of the local development strategy up to the limit of 25 % of the total public expenditure incurred within the local development strategy

12 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Community led local development under cohesion policy This local development approach is optional for ERDF and ESF. Member State indicates in the OP whether and where community led local development will be implemented - can be the entire territory Incentives: –where MS decides to create a separate priority axis for community led local development the co-financing rate can be increased by 10% points; –Reimbursement of management costs for local actions groups who apply for support from different EU instruments though the ”lead Fund” as an option; –In the case of ERDF, all actions under community led local development can be financed under the thematic objective no 9: promoting social inclusion and combating poverty, regardless of the nature of interventions involved –In the case of ESF, all actions under community led local development can also be financed under the thematic objective 9 with a dedicated investment priority

13 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion LEADER - Community led local development under the EAFRD LEADER is compulsory with 5% of the EAFRD funding per MS. Member State indicates in the Rural Development Programme where LEADER (CLLD under EAFRD) will be implemented - can be the entire territory In accordance with Art. 28.5, LEADER is not restricted to any of the EU priorities for rural development Incentives: maximum co-financing rates (Art EAFRD Reg.): up to 80% in “other regions” (instead of 50%); up to 90% in the less developed regions (instead of 85%)

14 European Union Regional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion FARNET - Community led local development under the EMFF Objectives: local development strategies shall : –maximise the participation of the fisheries sector in the sustainable development of fisheries areas; –ensure that local communities fully exploit and benefit from the opportunities offered by maritime and coastal development. No ring-fencing but Axis 4 of current EFF is 13% MS to indicate in their OPs the fisheries areas (coastal, inland) eligible for EMFF funding Example: Galicia &sitelang=en