Cooperation 2014-2020 - European Overview
Unpublished
(From webgate.ec.europa.eu)
Cooperating with local groups from other territories can allow FLAGs to find the complementarities or critical mass to increase the impacts of their actions. This can take place among neighbouring FLAGs, for example in order to protect or promote a common resource; at national level, for example, around a common theme, such as pesca-tourism, which might imply a new market activity and potentially the modification of national legislation; or at transnational level, to address common, often basin-wide, challenges.
By working with actors from other areas, FLAGs can lever in additional ideas and expertise to a project and increase their capacity to react to trends that go beyond the local level. Cooperation might involve the development of a common activity or product or focus on the exchange of experience or transfer of knowledge from one area to another. FLAGs may implement cooperation projects themselves or support a relevant local organisation to do so.
EU legislation for the 2014-2020 period (CPR Art 32, 34 and 35 and EMFF Art 64) makes provisions for FLAGs to cooperate across Europe and also with countries outside the EU. Moreover, as well as cooperating with other fisheries areas, FLAGs can seek synergies and cooperation with rural and urban areas by cooperating with other CLLD groups, such as LEADER LAGs but also with non-EU funded groups, provided they implement CLLD-type strategies through similar bottom-up public-private partnerships. This offers an ocean of opportunities for local stakeholders.
This FARNET cooperation table offers a brief overview of how cooperation is being organised in the different MS implementing CLLD under the EMFF, including potential partners, expected timetables for presenting projects and any Member State specificities regarding cooperation. See more details by Member State: BG - DE - DK - EE - FI - FR - GR - IE - PL - SE - SI - UK.
Support for cooperation
However, cooperation, especially when transnational, can be challenging for various reasons, including physical distance and language barriers, but also due to different rules and procedures sometimes put in place at national or regional level. The FARNET Support Unit team is available to help FLAGs develop ideas, find relevant partners and put ideas into practice through support to specific projects. If you need help to put cooperation ideas into practice, contact us at info@farnet.eu and if you already have a project idea you would like us to promote, download the cooperation idea template below and return it to info@farnet.eu.
You can also search for cooperation partners among the cooperation ideas proposed by FARNET FLAGs (see articles below) or by LEADER LAGs. Alternatively, you can browse the FLAG factsheets to identify potential partners, searching for those working on specific themes, or type “cooperation” in the Search box.
Additional resources