Measuring the performance of European territorial development policies by assessing the territorial added value The case of Leader program in Aurillac

How does the European program LEADER created since 1991 contribute yet to answer to the initial objectives of a bottom-up, integrated and innovative development? The construction of an analytical framework of the territorial added value is used to assess the efficiency of LEADER. This grid is structured around four components of this public policy: its territorial anchorage, the degree of intersectorality, forms of coordination between actors and the sustainability of the projects. The implementation of this method to the LEADER projects in Auvergne (pays d'Aurillac) highlights the most important added value for projects related to the home of people and businesses. Moreover, the coupling of this quantitative analysis with a qualitative analysis of political science policy points to other aspects hindering the performance of LEADER (administrative rigidity) or improving it (creating a welcome and technical support center).