Implementation of EU rural policy: is there any room for local actors?: The case of East Anglia, UK

The rural policy of the European Union (EU) should incorporate the EU-wide and national principles to various local circumstances and to promote local action. This paper examines the realisation of this goal in a issue transformation process in East Anglia, UK, by focusing on the potential conflict between the regional institutionalisation of EU rural policy and the aims and initiatives of local actors. In particular, it analyses the success versus failure of the programme in generating environmental projects that were to concretise the programme. My results show that a rationale of maximum spending, short time perspectives and a narrow interpretation of economic benefits, as well as hard procedural demands, discouraged the participation of the voluntary sector. As voluntary organisations were also made responsible for mediating between the programme and the local communities, the programme failed in generating local activism.