Stakeholders and Strategies of Local Development in Central

Europe

http://recherche.univ-montp3.fr/artdev/aldetec/

Marie-Claude MaurelDirectrice d’études à l’EHESSPascal ChevalierMaître de conférences

The LEADER axis of the European Rural Development Policy

• A new experiment for post-socialist rural societies

• Local development : a bright idea coming from Western countries

• The LEADER approach : a Policy Model Transfer operated by EU

Policy Transfer of the LEADER model

• Selecting the LEADER Model: from the Old Member States to the New European Member States

• Downloading the Policy Model• Receiving the LEADER Model: a learning

process

Selecting Transposing Receiving

EU as a « process

manager »National

authorities as operators

Local Stakeholders as

receivers

1st sequence 2nd sequence 3rd sequence

LEADER Program : National priorities

Managing the LEADER

Program

centralization/decentralization

Regulating the LEADER Program

Normative framework

Implementing the Leader Program

the agenda

Implementing the LEADER

Program

Number and size of the LAG

National territory

covered by the LEADER Program

A comparative research in cooperation

• 5 Member States: Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Czech republic, New Landers in Germany

• A European cooperation involving several research teams (one in Pécs)

• An investigation focused on Local Action Groups (LAG) at the local scale

• A common methodology (based on interviews, questionnaires)

Research fields:10 LAG

Germany: Henneberger

Poland: Kraïna Rawki, Dolina Karpia

Hungary: Zengo-Duna, Mecsekvidek

Czech republic : Uhlava, Hornacko-Ostrozsko, Podlipansko

Lithuania: Joniskis, Ignalina

LEADER Axis : a new tool for implementing rural policy in Hungary ?

• A highly centralised process in the hands of the Ministry for Agriculture

• Setting-up rules, devices and softwares• Covering all the rural areas • Top-down policy vs bottom-up action • Implementation of LEADER has been slow

down (delays)

Some questions about the New Public Action

Leader Model and local democracy• Do the local stakeholders take part in the

making decision process?• About the leading role played by mayors • Building a territorial pattern for public action