Mandate

- Decision of the Council concerning the Co-operative Action Programme on Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) adopted at its 1106th session on 24 February 2005 [C(2004)151/REV1 and C/M(2005)5, Item 50]

   -   Decision of the Council concerning the Co-operative Action Programme on Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) adopted at its 1215th session on 25 March 2010 [C(2010)39, C(2010)39/CORR1 and C/M(2010)5, Item 66]

   -   Decision of the Council concerning the Co-operative Action Programme on Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) adopted at its 1310th session on 17 March 2015 [C(2015)31 and C/M(2015)7/REV1, Item 45]

- Decision of the Council concerning the Co-operative Action Programme on Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) adopted at its 1411th session on 16 November 2020 [C(2020)117 and C/M(2020)8 Item 157].

 

 

Resolution of the Council [C(2026)15, Annex]

DRAFT RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL RENEWING THE CO OPERATIVE ACTION PROGRAMME ON LOCAL EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND RENAMING IT THE LOCAL EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

 

“THE COUNCIL,

HAVING REGARD to the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) of 14 December 1960;

HAVING REGARD to the Rules of Procedure of the Organisation;

HAVING REGARD to the Financial Regulations of the Organisation;

HAVING REGARD to the Decision of the Council of 22 July 1982 concerning a Co-operative Action Programme on Local Initiatives for Employment Creation [C(82)99/FINAL and C/M(82)18/FINAL, Item 169 (a) to (e)], which was last renewed and revised in 2020 [C(2020)117 and C/M(2020)8 Item 157];

HAVING   REGARD   to   the   Resolution   of   the   Council   on   Partnerships   in   OECD Bodies [C(2012)100/REV2/FINAL];

RECOGNISING that policies to adapt and prosper in light of major trends, transitions and economic shocks should account for the needs of all communities for the success, resilience and sustainable growth of national economies;

RECOGNISING the relevance of engaging with regional and local governments, local business communities, and other local economic actors, to inform, operationalise and implement effective policy to enhance local economic development, create quality jobs and address labour market challenges; These actors include associations, co-operatives, foundations, mutual societies, and social enterprises, referred to, in many OECD countries, as the social economy;

RECOGNISING the importance for policies to tackle skills gaps and mismatches to take account of local skills ecosystems, and barriers that hinder the matching of workers to jobs;

ACKNOWLEDGING that the Co-operative Action Programme on Local Employment and Economic Development and its Global Forum on Local Development provide a unique forum to share innovative approaches and scale up best practices on local employment and economic development;

HAVING REGARD to the proposed Resolution of the Council Renewing the Co-operative Action Programme on Local Employment and Economic Development and Renaming it the Local Employment and Economic Development Programme [C(2025)133/REV1];

 

DECIDES:

A.The Local Employment and Economic Development Programme (hereafter “LEED”) is renewed with the following revised mandate for its Committee:

 

I.   Objectives

 

1.   LEED helps policy makers drive integrated local economic development – creating good jobs and skilled workers for all places to thrive.

 

2.   The main objectives of LEED are to:

i.   Support the success of national economies through data, analyses and policies to strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of local labour markets and their ability to benefit from megatrends and transitions;

ii.   Leverage its broad stakeholder network — including subnational governments, social economy actors and local businesses — to anticipate trends and opportunities as well as share and scale innovative solutions to persistent and emerging challenges for uptake in local, regional and national labour markets;

iii.   Provide an international and cross-sectoral forum to discuss and develop policies for the creation of more and better quality jobs for all people and places, through the effective local integration of employment, skills, and economic development strategies.

 

3.   The mid-level objectives of LEED are to:

i.   Build integrated local economic development strategies that promote job creation, entrepreneurship, productivity and competitive local businesses;

ii.   Enhance the effectiveness and strengthen the implementation of national employment and skills policies by tailoring them to local conditions and business needs, and identifying and improving pathways to opportunity for individuals;

iii.   Address labour and skills gaps and mismatches by working with all local actors through place- based skills policies accounting for industrial structure, giving residents in all communities economic opportunity where they live, as well as through policies that consider barriers that hinder the matching of workers to jobs;

iv.   Harness and measure the potential of the social economy, including through its proven ability to drive entrepreneurship, and pioneer innovations, create jobs, formalise employment, and strengthen resilience to address local development needs for all people and places;

v.   Develop analyses, data and policies, including through synergies with other policy areas, to maximise the economic and social impact of culture and creative activities as well as global events on local development.

 

II.   Working Methods

 

4.   To achieve its objectives, LEED shall:

i.   Produce rigorous, cutting-edge analysis and evidence using public and private data sources (statistical, administrative and big data) to provide innovative and timely data-driven insights with a granular (subnational) lens;

ii.   Develop and support the implementation of OECD standards in the areas that reinforce local employment and economic development;

iii.   Produce thematic studies, peer reviews, practical guides, toolkits, and online tools to provide concrete and actionable policy guidance to national and subnational governments;

iv.   Provide tailored and targeted policy analysis and guidance to support national and local reforms, pilot programmes, living labs, implementation and policy evaluation to drive local employment and economic development;

v.   Provide capacity building activities and cultivate peer learning networks, including through its Trento Centre for Local Development;

vi.   Use the Global Forum on Local Development to inform and shape policy as well as disseminate the work of LEED to a wide range of stakeholders active in local development, such as regional and local governments, economic development organisations, business associations, employment and training agencies, social economy actors, entrepreneurs, higher education institutions and development banks.

 

III.   Local Employment and Economic Development (LEED) Committee

 

5.   The LEED Committee shall oversee LEED, in particular in:

•   developing and approving its draft programme of work and budget;

•   monitoring the quality and timeliness of output results, activities and projects;

•   considering all questions related to the carrying out of the programme of work and budget.

 

IV.   Membership

 

6.   Membership in LEED is open to:

•   all OECD Members, which may join LEED by addressing a notification to the Secretary- General to this effect;

•   interested non-Members which have been granted Associate status in the Committee. Together, these OECD Members and non-Members are referred to as “LEED members”.

 

7.   Each LEED member shall appoint at least one representative to the Committee. Representatives to the Committee should be chosen by virtue of their responsibilities in matters relating to local employment and economic development.

 

V.   Budget

 

8.   The expenditure of LEED shall be charged against the appropriations authorised for it under Part II of the Budget of the Organisation.

9.   Participation in LEED entails the payment of assessed contributions in the form of an annual fixed fee which is assessed each biennium by LEED and, unless the Committee decides otherwise, adjusted to French inflation.

10.   The annual contribution of a new member shall be added to the budget of LEED. If a new LEED member joins during a financial period, its contribution calculated on a pro rata temporis basis shall become a supplementary budget.

11.   A LEED member would fall into arrears on 1 January of the year following the year of the call for payment of the assessed contribution if the contribution remains unpaid at that date. If a participating LEED member’s contribution remained unpaid, a proposal would be considered to suspend the LEED member from participation, unless it paid the outstanding contribution. Settlement of the outstanding debt by the LEED member in arrears will reverse the suspension. If, in the third year following the year of call for payment, a LEED member’s contribution remained unpaid, a proposal would be considered to exclude it from LEED, unless it paid the outstanding contribution. The decision of exclusion shall be adopted by the Council. This decision shall be notified to the LEED member.

12.   Appropriations of no more than EUR 10 000 for which no commitment has been entered into before the end of the Financial Year for which they were appropriated, as well as any surplus income, shall be automatically carried forward to the Budget of LEED for the ensuing year by decision of the Secretary-General, notwithstanding the provisions of Regulation 10 of the Financial Regulations of the Organisation.

13.   Should a LEED member withdraw from LEED, the total amount of the LEED Programme Budget to be financed by the assessed contributions shall be reduced by the full amount of this withdrawing member’s assessed contributions. In order to ensure sufficient sustainability and allow for appropriate planning measures, withdrawals from the LEED Programme shall only take effect on 31 December of the year following that in which the written notice of withdrawal was received by the Secretary-General.

 

VI.   Co-ordination arrangements

 

14.   In order to achieve the objectives of LEED, the Committee shall:

i.   Co-operate with relevant OECD bodies (such as the Regional Development Policy Committee, the Committee on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Entrepreneurship, the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee, and the Education Policy Committee), and participate in horizontal activities, with the aim of effectively combining its own competencies with those of these other OECD bodies;

ii.   Keep itself informed of the activities of other international organisations and national institutions concerned with local employment and economic development with a view to strengthening international co-operation;

iii.   Consider the views of Business at OECD (BIAC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and promote partnerships with major stakeholders in the work areas of the Programme.

B.   This Resolution shall remain in force until 30 June 2031.

 

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