The approval of 50 local Leader programs for the 2023-2027 programming period, totaling €236 million, was announced by the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Kostas Tsiaras, during the inaugural meeting of the CLLD/LEADER inter-territorial cooperation plan, titled “Cooperative Development”, within the framework of Sub-measure 19.3 of the RDP 2014-2020. The Minister of Social Cohesion and Family, Sofia Zacharaki, also attended. The goal, as Mr. Tsiaras emphasized, is for Local Action Groups to immediately issue new calls for proposals, with more simplified procedures and digitalization, in order to facilitate entrepreneurs, development companies, and other participating bodies.
«It is a particularly powerful tool for local communities to be effectively and inclusively strengthened, to innovate, to address the problems primarily of farmers, and to enhance the social cohesion of the region», he noted.
The Minister of Rural Development and Food stressed that LEADER programs are among the most characteristic examples of success for the formulation and implementation of a “bottom-up” development policy for the Greek regions, meaning a policy designed from the ground up. These development policies yield results in terms of both growth and employment, because they are designed and implemented by local communities.
Local populations know the characteristics of their area, its weaknesses, and opportunities better than anyone, and therefore they can achieve their goals, create new opportunities and jobs, and mitigate inequalities, retaining young people in the regions.
