Analyse of the effects of the European LEADER programme in France and Italy on the changes of rural territories
Analyse des effets du programme européen LEADER sur l’action publique dans les territoires ruraux. Application en France et en Italie
Résumé
Drawing on research based on four case studies in France and Italy, studied over the period 1994–2015, this article looks at the effects of the implementation of the European rural development programme
LEADER in the beneficiary areas. The research is therefore based on the comparison of four Local Action Groups: West Cornwall in Brittany, the Pays d’Arcachon Val de l’Eyre in Aquitaine, the Delta
Po in Emilia-Romagna and the Venezia Orientale in Veneto. This choice of cases was based on the following comparative hypothesis. The normative and cognitive framework of the European LEADER
programme has two dimensions : the rural development perspective adopted in the deployment of the programme and the place of local authorities in rural territories in territorial governance. The article
analyses the mechanisms involved in the contribution of this programme to the transformation of the issues at stake in these territories, to the evolution of the systems of local actors, and finally to changes in
the definition and implementation of local public policy. By participating in the strengthening of local authorities according to their relative territorial capacities and by generating processes of domination
by regional authorities, LEADER ultimately contributes to the redistribution of the places and roles of elected representatives and experts within the local arena and generates effects on programmes
other than LEADER. LEADER thus participates in the recomposition of local public action, not by imposing the principles of neo-endogenous territorial development, but by juxtaposing them with
other rural development proposals, depending on the actors, contexts, periods, policies or programmes concerned. Furthermore, LEADER feeds learning processes about cooperation between actors and
the mobilisation of public action mechanisms through socialisation mechanisms that lead to social
innovations, the mobilisation of territorialised public action instruments and, finally, inter-community
and inter-municipal cooperation.
S’appuyant sur un travail de recherche reposant sur quatre études de cas en France et en Italie, étudiés sur la période 1994-2015, cet article porte sur les effets qu’engendre la mise en œuvre du programme
européen de développement rural LEADER dans les zones bénéficiaires. Il analyse les mécanismes en jeu relatifs à la contribution de ce programme aux transformations des enjeux de ces territoires, à
l’évolution des systèmes d’acteurs locaux, enfin aux changements dans la conduite de l’action publique.
En participant au renforcement des pouvoirs locaux selon leurs capacités territoriales relatives et en engendrant des processus de domination des pouvoirs régionaux, LEADER contribue in fine à la
redistribution des places et des rôles des élus et des experts au sein de l’arène locale et génèrent des transferts sur d’autres programmes que LEADER
Mots clés
Action publique locale
Développement local
Gouvernance territoriale
Second pilier de la PAC
Territoires ruraux
action publique locale
développement local
gouvernance territoriale
second pilier de la PAC
territoires ruraux local policy
local development
rural territories
second pillar of the CAP
territorial governance. Classification JEL : B52
H70
Q18
R50