The European Territorial Quality Mark
Project: THE EUROPEAN TERRITORIAL QUALITY MARK
Speaker:Cathy Camboulives, head of the Aude Local Development Association (AADEL), Aude District Council, 11855 Carcassonne Cédex 9, France
Contact: 00 33 (0)4 68 11 65 12
Organisation: the AADEL is the body responsible for the Pays Cathare (France) Local Action Group as part of the Leader plus Programme
Background
The “European Territorial Quality Mark” project is scheme under part 2 “cooperation” of Leader Plus for the 2006-2008 period.
It follows on from the first partnership formed under Leader 2 with the “Pays Cathare” (France), “Valle Umbra” (Italy) and El Condado (Spain) Local Action Groups (LAGs). The project is now run with 19 LAGs in France, Spain, Italy and Greece.
The 19 Local Action Groups are rural areas that have set up a quality process in their own district. Every Local Action Group has its own territorial mark, the particular feature of these schemes is that they provide an overall, across-the-board approach to quality. They apply to various types of product and service (in food, agriculture, crafts, tourism, heritage, etc.). The professionals who are involved in the scheme undertake to network and to take the environmental, social and cultural impacts of their activity into account.
The approach closely links quality, safety, authenticity and “responsible” production. It also supposes commitment by public and private participants.
Aims:
To register in the European Union the “European territorial quality mark”: an across-the-board mark that will be in addition to marks specific to each Local Action Group.
To gain recognition by the European Union of the specific nature of an across-the-board approach on Quality
To draft specifications and application regulations,
To create a European legal entity so that all partners are joint owners of the mark. The body managing the mark will be of association type, it will have a managing board and “operational” control which will be appointed by the owners’ meeting.
To develop territorial marks like the “Pays Cathare” Mark.
Funding:
50 %: European Union through the Leader plus programme
50 %: national counterparts and self-funding
The European Territorial Quality Mark
List of parteners
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Intervention C. Camboulives GALPays Cathare Open Days
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Talk by C. Camboulives Pays Cathare Local Action Group Open Days
Spain
Fundació Garrotxa Líder (Girona – Cataluña-ES) Groupe d’Action Local coordinateur
Asociación para el Desarrollo Rural de la Comarca de El Condado” (Jaén – Andalucía-ES)
Asociación para el Desarrollo Sostenible del Poniente Granadino (Granada – Andalucía-ES)
Centro de Desarrollo Rural Valle del Ese-Entrecabos (Asturias- ES)
Asociación para o Desenvolvemento Rural dos Vales do Ulla e Umia (Pontevedra – Galicia-ES)
Asociación Centro de Desarrollo Rural Merindades (Burgos – Castilla y León-ES)
Asociación para el Desarrollo de la Comarca de Talavera, Sierra de San Vicente y La Jara-IPETA (Toledo – Castilla-La Mancha-ES)
Asociación Comarcal "Don Quijote de La Mancha" (Toledo – Castilla-La Mancha-ES)
Grupo de Acción Local Dulcinea (Toledo – Castilla-La Mancha-ES)
Asociación Lider “Serranía del Turia – Valencia” (Valencia - Comunidad Valenciana-ES)
ASOCIACION POEDA “Páramo, Órbigo, Esla Desarrollo Asociado” (Leon-ES)
Italy
GAL Valle Umbra e Sibilini (Umbría- IT)
Tradizione delle Terre Occitane (Piamonte-IT)
Greece
Development Association of Halkidiki SA (Macedonia Central-GR)
Development Association of Thessaloniki SA (Macedonia Central-GR)
Development Association of Pella SA (Macedonia Central-GR)
Development Association of Kilkis SA (Macedonia Central-GR)
Development Association of Lemnos SA (Egeo Norte-GR)
France
GAL Pays Cathare (Languedoc-Roussillon- FR)
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Talk by C. Camboulives Pays Cathare Local Action Group Open Days
Why the European Territorial Quality Mark?
The European Territorial Quality Mark cooperation project is in addition to local actions, it must enable a common denominator to be found across Europe for these “territorial marks” and differentiate the relative products and services.
By uniting in a joint approach, the 19 territories want to attain a critical mass sufficient to exist on markets and have products easily identifiable by consumers.
The European Territorial Quality Mark
What is the ETQM?
The principles that underlie the European Territorial Quality Mark:
- A quality that reinforces the identity of territories, by boosting their exposure to the world and contributing to the development and economic growth of all production grouped together under the “product-territory” banner.
- Sustainable development incorporating the economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects.
The ETQM is identified through eight broad principles that are specified in their turn as application criteria.
* To enable the participation of all players in public and private fields at every level of organisation and management, and guarantee transparency of actions on the basis of partners’ willing, formal commitment.
* To guarantee equality of access to all those developing in their cultural, social and economic dimensions, especially disadvantaged groups in society (the young and women in particular).
* To promote synergies between various social and business organisations to better develop products and services
* To create a united front in each territory between
- those involved,
- producers in one or more sectors, or several business sectors,
- producers and consumers.
* To make the general quality scheme sustainable for all products and services from each of the territories.
* To guarantee the authenticity of know-how and traditions; build an identity based on common values shared by players in the territory; give a multicultural, European dimension to discussions between people; develop the role of associations
* To respond to consumers’and users’ new requirements on the basis of the joint identity which must take shape in an image conveyed by the territory.
* To guarantee that companies and organisations using the mark are socially responsible and that their products or services are above the minimum required by current regulations.
The European Territorial Quality Mark
Actions undertaken through cooperation
The partnership between 19 territories in 4 different countries provides a truly “European” window to those rural territories. It enables practical discussion and exchange of expertise between technicians, elected representatives, business people, etc..
However, managing a project with 19 partners results in a degree of administrative and financial complexity.
The cooperation project has enabled actions to be undertaken of local and national scale.
-Setting up and developing local Marks: each territory has been able to fund projects in order to create or support its own mark
-Creating truly national networks for discussion and partnership (Spain, Greece)
Undertaking joint trans-national actions:
-Taking part in the Slow Food Festival in 2007 with 19 territories on the same stand
-Setting up a web site
-Drafting the specification detailing the ETQM which has been approved and signed by the 19 territories
-Registering the Mark in the EU Register of patents and trademarks (OAMI).
-Creating a Europe-wide association bringing together the 19 territories: the European Territorial Quality Mark Association, a non-profit-making association headquartered in Spain, in compliance with Spain’s 2002 Law on Associations.
-Setting up a management and control committee
Now
Organising a seminar at the Regions Committee in Brussels on 25 and 26 October to present the project to European bodies and other European territories (Local Action Groups)
In the future
- Organising a discussion seminar between those working in tourism in the different Local Action Groups in February 2008 inBurgos (Spain)
- Organising a discussion seminar between those working in food and agriculture in the various Local Action Groups in May 2008 inToledo(Spain)
- Identifying new partnerships and following up the project under the 2007 – 2013 Leader programme.
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Talk by C. Camboulives Pays Cathare Local Action Group Open Days