LEADER Heraklion: Call Published – Funding Up to 100% for Private Investments, Training and Cooperation
On November 3, 2026, the local action group of Heraklion published the 1st call for intervention Π3-77-4.1 “Support for Local Development through LEADER” under the Heraklion LEADER Local Program 2023-2027. The call covers private, training and cooperation projects and targets businesses, individuals, private bodies and local public-sector bodies in the Heraklion area, with funding rates reaching up to 100% depending on the sub-intervention.
According to the call, the local action group “Anaptyxiaki Irakliou AAE OTA” acts as the intermediate body for the “LEADER Heraklion” program, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the national budget, under the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023-2027.
The call covers investment plans in manufacturing and tourism businesses, training actions for the local population, and cooperation schemes among small local businesses or local bodies, including “Smart Villages” plans. Expenses are eligible from January 1, 2023, provided the physical object of the project has not been completed before the application is submitted.
Applications are submitted electronically through OPSKE (the state aid submission portal), within the timeframe set out in the call.
At a glance
- Status: Active
- Beneficiaries: individuals, businesses, private bodies and local public-sector bodies in the Heraklion area
- Area: selected municipal/local communities of Heraklion, Archanes-Asterousia, Viannos, Gortyna, Malevizi, Minoa Pediadas, Faistos and Chersonisos
- Evaluation: comparative evaluation
Who can apply to LEADER Heraklion
A beneficiary can be an individual, an existing or soon-to-be-established legal entity, a private body with a statutory purpose of carrying out similar projects, or a local public-sector body. The main conditions are as follows:
- the investment or activity of the beneficiary must be located within the intervention area of the local program;
- cooperation schemes must include at least three members, or five for sub-intervention 7.1, with a designated lead partner;
- the de minimis aid ceiling of €300,000 per single undertaking, over a rolling three-year period, must be respected;
- the beneficiary must be able to cover its own contribution to the investment, as set out in the financing plan.
Note: offshore companies, entities with final fines for serious labor-law violations or undeclared work, and individuals under 18 at the time of application (with certain exceptions for companies) are not eligible.
Funding amounts
The aid intensity varies by sub-intervention. Cooperation among small local businesses (Π3-77-4.1-7.1) reaches up to 90%, while cooperation among bodies and “Smart Villages” plans (7.2 and 7.3) reach up to 100%. For training actions for the local population, the maximum budget per project is €20,000, with a 100% support rate via standardized unit costs.
Private investment aid is generally granted as de minimis aid under Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, with a cumulative ceiling of €300,000 per undertaking over three years.
Which expenses are covered
According to the call, eligible expenses include production and mechanical equipment, land purchase, building and facility construction, studies and technical support for implementation, as well as lump-sum costs for training and cooperation actions. Expenses are eligible from January 1, 2023.
What applicants should note
It should be noted that evaluation of applications is comparative, not based on submission order: applications are first checked against eligibility criteria and then scored under selection criteria per sub-intervention. As a rule, only one application per tax ID (AFM) per sub-intervention is allowed within the same call and local program, with exceptions for municipalities and cooperation sub-interventions.
Detailed eligibility conditions, required supporting documents and the full expense framework per sub-intervention are available on the program page for “LEADER Heraklion”.
The call was published under protocol no. 1348/03.11.2026 by the local action group “Anaptyxiaki Irakliou AAE OTA”, under Joint Ministerial Decision 161876/22.06.2026 (Government Gazette B’ 4030). For information and support with the application, applicants can contact +30 211 182 3461 or info@espa.io.
See also