No C 31/42 Official Journal of the European Communities 6. 2. 91 
Opinion on the draft notice from the Commission to Member States laying down guidelines 
for integrated global grants for which Member States are invited to submit proposals in the 
framework of a Community initiative for rural development LEADER (links between actions 
for the development of the rural economy) 
(91/C 31/14) 
On 21 August 1990 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned draft notice. 
The Committee decided to appoint Mr Jose Bento Goncalves as Rapporteur-General with 
the task of preparing its work on the subject. 
At its 280th plenary session (meeting of 18 October 1990) the Economic and Social Committee 
unanimously adopted the following Opinion. 
1. Introduction 
1.1. The active participation of citizens, including 
those from the less-advantaged regions, is crucial to the 
successful completion of the Single Market. 
1.2. The populations making up what is known as 
rural society live in those areas which best conform to 
Objectives 1 and 5b, together accounting for 55% of 
the Community's territory. 
1.3. Initiatives aimed at fostering the conditions 
required for popular participation are vital to Com­
munity plans, since it is action of this kind which will 
make the following possible: 
— prevention of desertification, 
— improved profitability of existing structures, by 
adapting them to meet the objectives set, 
— environmental improvement, 
— prevention of pollution and a stepping up of existing 
counter-measures, 
— nature conservation and protection of natural 
resources, 
— higher-quality agricultural produce, 
— conditions favourable to tourism and rural land-
use, 
— improved town and country planning, 
— fuller information, channelled through local infor­
mation centres, 
— encouragement for local enterprise, 
— establishment of new local businesses, particularly 
innovatory services. 
1.4. Integrated regional development is crucial to the 
construction of a 'Europe of the Regions'. Vocational training, rural tourism and support for small and 
medium-sized businesses and the craft sector, as well 
as for the marketing and exploitation of agricultural, 
forestry and fisheries products, and for the establish­
ment and successful operation of cooperatives and local 
and regional associations, represent essential vehicles 
for the achievement of the Single European Market, in 
which its 320 million inhabitants can feel at home and 
become active participants in its development. 
2. General comments 
2.1. LEADER is aimed specifically at the develop­
ment of the rural economy, as set out in doc. COM(88) 
501 final on the future of rural society, on which the 
Committee issued a unanimously adopted own-initi­
ative Opinion (*). 
2.2. It goes hand-in-hand with the initiatives pre­
pared by the Commission to support economic develop­
ment in areas under objectives 1 and 5b, in a field not 
yet touched upon by STAR, RECHAR, ENVIREG, 
REGIS, INTEREG, STRIDE, PRISMA, TELEMA-
TIQUE and other programmes supporting small and 
medium-sized businesses in general. The Committee's 
own-initiative Opinions on upland areas (2), Island 
Regions (3) and the contribution of the cooperative sec­
tor to regional development (4) showed the Commission 
that instruments were needed to give practical scope to 
these objectives. 
2.3. The Committee is mindful of the economic con­
text in which this initiative is being launched, marked 
by: (i) an overall liberalization of macro-economic pol­
icy, associated with the completion of the Single Mar­
ket, which will aggravate disparities between the centre 
and the peripheral regions; (ii) a tendency within the 
(!) OJ No C 298, 27. 11. 1989. 
(2) OJ No C 175, 4. 7. 1988. 
(3) OJ No C 232, 31.8. 1987. 
(4) OJNoC298, 27. 11. 1989. 
6. 2. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 31/43 
common agricultural policy (CAP) to reduce agricul­
tural subsidies and aid, which will have serious future 
implications for rural areas, particularly in terms of 
unemployment; (iii) the current inability of the Structur­
al Funds to achieve the economic and social cohesion 
referred to in the Single Act; (iv) structural fund allo­
cations for rural development which fall below the 
amounts requested by the Member States; and (v) a 
probable increase in transport costs as a result of the 
concentration of economic activity inherent in the Sin­
gle Market, with the consequent negative impact on the 
predominantly rural peripheral regions. 
The Committee considers that the new programme 
being launched may, within the context described, help 
counter the negative trend currently affecting agri­
culture provided the following rules are observed: 
2.3.1. In selecting groups and areas for the 
implementation of the LEADER programme, the Com­
mission must give absolute priority to the most rural 
and peripheral regions. 
2.3.2. The programme's budgetary resources must, 
in general terms, equal the loss of income which the 
changes to the CAP and the free play of market forces 
will entail for rural populations; they must also provide 
the necessary assistance and support to enable rural 
regions to compete in this new market with more advan­
taged areas. 
2.3.3. Priority must be given to organizations rep­
resenting local and regional economic and social 
interests, particularly those of a private, cooperative or 
mixed type, which provide the best chance for involve­
ment of the local population, because of their closeness 
to them. 
Done at Brussels, 18 October 1990. 2.3.4. The Committee considers that, in applying 
LEADER, the Commission must work with the Mem­
ber States to prevent State interventionist and centraliz­
ing tendencies diluting the participatory role of regional 
and local populations, and their organizations, in each 
country. 
2.3.5. The programme should provide a role for 
locally raised finance, so as to prevent national budget­
ary restrictions limiting its impact. 
2.3.6. The LEADER programme must not, under 
any circumstances, be used as a substitute for current 
Member State investment in the agricultural sector. 
2.4. The Committee urges the Commission to make 
it clear that measures directed towards the economic 
and social operators apply equally to cooperatives. In 
its unanimously adopted Opinion on the contribution 
of the cooperative sector to regional development, the 
Committee recognized that, because of their special 
position in rural society, cooperative enterprises consti­
tuted the type of organization best-placed to succeed in 
stimulating initiatives of the kind covered by LEADER. 
2.5. The Committee emphasizes that the budget 
earmarked for the LEADER programme is combined 
with resources under Member State Community sup­
port frameworks and cannot be applied, without an 
expanded budget, to areas in the former German Demo­
cratic Republic. 
2.6. In line with the stance which it has repeatedly 
adopted, the Committee supports the Commission 
initiative and urges that the observations made herein 
be taken into consideration. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois STAEDELIN