On 16 December 2021, the government decided on Sweden's strategic plan for the new agricultural policy. The plan in its entirety, consisting of 722 pages, can be read here. here. Three important takeaways from the strategic plan are:
- Leader is the measure in the strategic plan that most clearly aims to stimulate broad rural development.
- The total budget for Leader will be 1.715 billion for the years 2023-2027.
- The ambition is that all 40 areas that have applied to implement Leader will be approved.
The plan sets out general and specific goals for agricultural policy, support and compensation levels, the conditions that will govern receiving support, etc. The goal of the strategic plan is for Sweden to have sustainable food production, economically, environmentally and socially, and to provide conditions for rural areas to develop throughout the country.
About Leader it is written: The efforts within Leader shall strengthen the local population's access to infrastructure and improve living conditions including leisure, culture, etc. which constitute the conditions for attractive housing, youth participation, business development and civil society. For example, Leader can support projects that develop local business, associations, attractive living environments and otherwise good living environments. Other areas that can be supported are valuable natural and cultural environments, tourism, initiatives for smart villages and communities (smart rural areas), environment, bioeconomy, climate transition and adaptation to climate change or similar thematic areas that are important for the development of rural areas and meet the objectives of the EU's common agricultural policy.
The European Commission will review Sweden's strategic plan in 2022. The Commission will give final approval at the turn of the year 2022/2023, and the new agricultural policy will come into force in 2023 across the EU. In 2022, the Swedish government is working on the Swedish regulation that will govern the Swedish Board of Agriculture and thereby all Leader areas. The Swedish Board of Agriculture is responsible for developing regulations, information about the support and e-services.
What should Leader Bergslagen do now?
In the spring of 2022, it is time for each leader area to submit budget requests for 2023-2027. It is a requirement that 33% be co-financed by, for example, municipalities, regions, etc. in so-called other public support/public resources for the budget the leader area is allocated.
The ten municipalities that together form Leader Bergslagen are tasked with deciding on co-financing in 2022. Co-financing certificates must be submitted in connection with the application to start a Leader area no later than October 15, 2022. The budget allocation to all Leader areas will begin by the Swedish Board of Agriculture in mid-May 2022 after the selection committee has completed its prioritization of the strategies. Read a previous post about the schedule here.