Estonia proposes increasing funding for the LEADER programme
In Estonia, Hendrik Johannes Terras criticised the Ministry of Finance’s indicative proposal for the allocation of EU funds for the next budget period. In a column for ERR News, he noted that the proposal allocates €43.6 million to the LEADER local development programme. The government has not yet approved the allocation and may change it on 8 September.
According to Terras, the first working version allocated €25 million to LEADER, but after objections from the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, the amount was increased to €43.6 million. He argues that this is less than one-third of the €139.1 million directed towards community development in the current funding period.
A €460 million proposal
Terras proposes a regional package worth €460 million: €125 million for regional entrepreneurship, €150 million for municipal services and crisis resilience, €140 million for LEADER, €20 million for public transport, and €25 million for the development of the border region.
In the Ministry of Finance’s proposal, the regional measures of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture together with LEADER amount to €203.6 million. Another €65 million for the development of industrial and business areas was transferred to the responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. According to the columnist’s calculations, the known regionally focused measures total €268.6 million, which is €191.4 million less than his proposal.
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LEADER and community funding
The columnist believes that LEADER should be returned to the “Polycentric Estonia” priority and funded from EU cohesion policy resources. He also opposed seeking additional funding for local initiatives within the €546 million intended for agriculture and food security.
Terras noted that €43.6 million over seven years would average €6.2 million per year for all of Estonia, with the funds to be distributed among 26 activity areas. According to LEADER implementation data, as of August the programme covered 1,691 projects, while the median amount of support was €14,003.
Among examples of supported initiatives, the author named the construction of safe access to the rescue station in Aegviidu, the purchase of a tank for the Pärnu-Jaagupi fire association, and the conversion of an old municipal building in Kohila into an open community centre. Terras said he would present his own proposal to the government on 8 September and could not support the regional part of the plan in its current form.
