The role of the LEADER Programme in supporting international cooperation between local authorities

Abstract

In the European Union, the LEADER program, which has been running for more than three decades, remains a unique development method in which the place-based, bottom-up approach provides opportunities for local governments, as well as businesses and civil society organizations, to develop their cooperation and networking activities not only within their member states, but also on an international scale. The study also outlines the historical context within which different opportunities arose from time to time for the development of cooperation, one of the most important elements of the program. (It is noteworthy that 1,512 international cooperation projects were implemented within the framework of the LEADER program in the 2007–2013 period, while between 2014 and 2020, this number rose to 280.)

The aim of the study is to explore initiatives launched in Hungary through an empirical examination and to evaluate the role of local governments in the 22 international cooperation programs of the 2014–2020 period, which, in various areas and with varying intensity, helped to establish, strengthen, and maintain the international relations of local governments. Taking into account the results of literature, policy sources, and international research, the study deals separately with the conceptual issues of networking and territorial cooperation included in the LEADER principles, as well as the deeper theoretical connections underlying these differences.

Based on the results of empirical studies, it presents the motivations and driving forces behind local government involvement, distinguishing between value-driven and interest-driven interactions, and highlights the substantive elements of cooperation, which it classifies into three different groups based on their intensity. The study evaluates the innovative nature of the activities, which, in the context of cooperation, can be interpreted more as part of a longer-term process than as a one-off outcome of a typical project. Within the framework of interpreting cooperation as a process, it examines issues of continuity, particularly from the perspective of the administrative and financial factors that may hinder or support continuity.

Among the limitations and obstacles to international cooperation, it analyzes the shortcomings of the EU's role, highlighting the problems of international coordination of member state applications. It deals separately with the issues of financing and administrative burdens, which may have contributed significantly to the drastic decline in the number of cooperation projects. It also addresses the difficulties caused by the COVID period and the solutions that ensured the implementation of projects under these circumstances. Based on all this, recommendations are made that could help to ensure that the number, scope, and intensity of international relations within the LEADER framework move in a positive direction in the future.