Representatives from the national networks of Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden gathered in Brussels on the 10th of April for the first General Assembly of ELARD in 2019.
At this meeting – apart from the activities report and financial statement report for 2018, presented by the Portuguese presidency, and both approved by members – ELARD’s members discussed about the relations between LEADER/CLLD and “Smart Villages” as well as about an update of ELARD’s positions regarding the European Commission’s legislative proposals on the Cohesion Policy and CAP for 2021-2027. Now that the negotiation process about the new programming period is more advanced and the elections for the European Parliament are very close, ELARD presents in this document its main positions. This document therefore forms the basis for ELARD’s future policy, communication and advocacy work. Amongst the positions are the request to ensure at least the same budget for LEADER compared to the current period even if the plans about a joint programming of the 1st and the 2nd pillar of the Common Agriculture Policy are going to be implemented and the proposal to create a pilot CLLD Support Unit at EU level to support networking, transnational cooperation and capacity building of all LAGs in all funds. Please find the position paper on ELARD’s Website under “Positions”.
Another highlight of this General Assembly was the confirmation of the Moldovan LEADER Network as ELARD’s 26. member. Marina Albu, president of the national network signed the declaration to join ELARD on the 3rd of April during the EU-Moldova LEADER Conference.
ELARD Council presented to members the intention to launch several surveys and the concept of a Good-Practice-Collection of LEADER/CLLD in the context of the 20th anniversary of ELARD, which will be conducted during this year.
