Abstract
LEADER approach represents one of the basic pillars of current rural development policy implemented at the European level. Logical foundation of the approach is based on 7 key features, which should be horizontally presented throughout the whole delivery mechanism. That is why the presented paper is oriented on answering the research question: to what extent was delivery mechanism of LEADER (at the level of managing authority and local action groups) during the programming period 2007-2013 supporting the implementation of 7 features of LEADER approach. In order to fulfi l the stated objective there must be individual steps of delivery mechanism defi ned at both levels, consequently all the features of LEADER approach were described and the criteria of success - benchmarks were determined. Mutual linking of these steps resulted in creation of an implementation matrix what represents a visual outcome of the study.