Ex Post Evaluation of the Cohesion Fund (Including Former Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Acession – ISPA)

Type:

International

State:

Ongoing

Research Groups:

Environmental and Socio-economic Dynamics: Management for Sustainability

Lead Researcher:

John Bachtler, Director, European Policies Research Centre

e-Geo Team:

Regina Salvador, Maria de Nazaré Roca

Coordinating Institution:

University of Strathclyde, European Policies Research Centre

Institutional partners:

University of Strathclyde, European Policies Research Centre, (Coordination);

e-GEO Research Centre for Geography and Regional Planning, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas FCSH, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal;

ProinfraConsult Ltd, Bulgaria;

Charles University, Czech Republic;

Tartu University, Estonia;

LKN Analysis, Greece;

Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary;

Fitzpatrick Associates, Ireland;

University of Latvia, Latvia;

BGI Consulting Ltd., Lithuania;

EUROREG, Poland;

Archidata, Budapest, Romania;

Consulting Associates, Slovakia;

Institute of Economic Research, Slovenia;

EPRC, Spain.

Funding:

DG REGIO, European Commission

Duration:

2011-2012

Objectives:

General Objective:

to establish whether the country-level management and implementation systems for the Cohesion Fund are well–established and functioning efficiently, for the purposes of achieving the goals of EU Cohesion policy, while also contributing to EU sustainable development objectives.

Specific Objectives:

to assess the current level of capacity for the management and implementation of Cohesion Fund activity in the subject Member States;
to assess the distance travelled in terms of capacity development since 2000;
to examine the relative effectiveness of different approaches for capacity gap mitigation over the short and longer term;
to evaluate the value-added of EU Technical Assistance support in the capacity development process;
to identify lessons and transferable good practice; and
to consider the implications of the findings for future Cohesion Policy and administrative reform.