Ex post evaluation of ERDF and Cohesion Fund

Ex post evaluation of ERDF and Cohesion Fund DG REGIO MC meeting 24 November 2016 Cohesion Regional Policy

The ex post evaluation • 14 work packages, independent experts • 63 programme, 20 project case studies • Interviewed: • 3 000 beneficiaries; • 1 000 Managing authority employees; • 530 stakeholders participating in 10 seminars to discuss the results • State of the art evaluation methods 2 Regional Policy

Net positive impact for all MSs, even net contributors (GDP, % deviation from baseline) 6 5 4 3 2 1 2023 LT HU LV EU PL EU 15 -1 2 2015 EE SK CZ RO ES M T SI PT GR BG IT CY AT IE FI DE SE BE FR NL UK LU DK 0 3 Regional Policy

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Crucial support to public investment during the crisis 5 Regional Policy

… leading to a long term reduction in disparities (Regional GDP, Theil index) 6

Selected achievements • About 400 000 SMEs supported • Over 5 000 km of new roads (2 400 km TEN-T) • About 4 000 km of railway upgraded (2 600 km TEN-T built) • About 6 million more people connected to drinking water • About 7 million people connected to wastewater treatment v In Poland, the share of municipal waste going to landfills was reduced from 90% to 53% v Reduced energy use in public buildings in Lithuania (=3% of national energy consumption) 7 Regional Policy

Selected achievements[LV] 8 Regional Policy

Key lessons learned 9 Regional Policy

Results & performance Issue Addressed in 2014 -20 by… ~90% of FIs in just 1 field (enterprise support) Regulations allow FIs in all themes and volumes are expanding Broad focus programmes, lacking clear goals Thematic concentration, result indicators Project contribution to programme objectives unclear Project selection criteria must take account of result indicators, better monitoring indicators Making it difficult to track programme progress (other than spending) Regular reporting of results and outputs, performance framework linked to a performance reserve Evaluations often focused on delivery and monitoring Impact evaluation for each of the specific objectives, assessing contribution to results 10 Regional Policy

Performance, transparency and accountability • Thematic concentration of resources • Clear objectives, measurable results including performance framework and reserve • Ex-ante conditionalities • Expanded use of financial instruments • Smart specialization strategies; • Strengthened monitoring; • Impact evaluations 11 Regional Policy

Transparency and Accountability 2014 -20 • Open Data Platform: i • Detailed data on planned and achieved investments (Dec 2016) 12 Regional Policy

Thank you! • Cohesion Policy at work - 2007 -2013: http: //ec. europa. eu/regional_policy/en/newsroom/news/2 016/10/10 -07 -2016 -cohesion-policy-at-work-keyoutcomes-of-eu-investments-in-2007 -2013 • ESIF Open Data Platform: https: //cohesiondata. ec. europa. eu/ • Evaluation: http: //ec. europa. eu/regional_policy/en/policy/evaluations/ 13 Regional Policy