Does the EU LEADER Instrument Support Endogenous Development and New Modes of Governance in Romania?: Experiences from Elaborating an MCDA Based Regional Development Concept

Abstract

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New Actors in Rural Development - The LEADER Approach and Projectification in Rural Croatia

“…For that reason only, it was no surprise that the EU members which acceded in the 2000s expected (and hoped) that the LEADER programme would dynamize their rural development (Bíró and Györke, 2009; Eszter, 2011; Marquardt et al, 2010). However, the programme implementation in Central-Eastern Europe also provoked some critical tones (e.g.…”

“…However, the programme implementation in Central-Eastern Europe also provoked some critical tones (e.g. Marquardt et al, 2010) in line with reviews of LEADER effects in the old EU (Shucksmith, 2010;Dax et al, 2013). Starting from the analysis of the application of LEADER in Austria and Ireland, Dax et al (2013) note the increased "banalization" of LEADER projects, and the shift away from innovative or experimental projects which lead to less certain or predictable outcomes.…”

“…The bottom-up approach, as one of the basic tenets of the program, has thus been threatened with replacement by "a much more top-down reality" (ibid.). In a study of the application of LEADER in Romania, Marquardt et al (2010) detect similar threats to both the bottom-up approach and endogenous development. The authors point out the difficulties that LAGs face in following "the identified regional needs and opportunities" (p. 222), and endogenous development under the LEADER program was somewhat impeded by the scope of measures within which LAGs were supposed to operate.…”

“…The question we can pose regards factors influencing the success and failure of LEADER, and if we go beyond the numerical and statistical indicators literature suggests that at least part of the answer could be found in the specificities of each country, more precisely, in their political, administrative, socio-economic, historical and cultural context (Marquardt et al, 2010:198 based on Bruckmeier 2000; Jouen, 1999). The argument of the importance of territorial (national, regional, local) context for the success or failure of EU programmes such as LEADER, can also be found in Harboe Knudsen's (2012) response to the predominant analytical approaches to the processes of Europeanization in Central and Eastern Europe.…”

Government–Third Sector Relations in European Rural Development: A Critical Perspective

“…Furthermore, governmental agencies often dominate project idea development and implementation. As a result, partnerships have effectively been transformed into semi-governmental organizations (Marquardt, Wegener, and Möllers 2010;Metis 2010;Bruckmeier 2000). Opportunistic battles for gaining power within partnerships and exploitation of nonprivileged partners have been observed in Finland (Lehto and Rannikko 1999), France (Buller 2000), Sweden (Larsson 2000), and southern Italy (Osti 2000).…”