VERONICA GAFFEYVERONICA GAFFEYActing Director – Policy DevelopmentDG FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Przyszłość polityki spójności Przyszłość polityki spójności V Raport Kohezyjny a wnioski z ewaluacji ex post KEV Raport Kohezyjny a wnioski z ewaluacji ex post KE

Future of Cohesion Policy – building on evidenceFuture of Cohesion Policy – building on evidence

VI KONFERENCJA EWALUACYJNAVI KONFERENCJA EWALUACYJNAWARSZAWA, 13-14.12.2010WARSZAWA, 13-14.12.2010

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

1. Key Messages of 5th Cohesion Report

2. Evaluation design

3. Main evaluation conclusions

4. Turning evaluation knowledge into policy….

5. And Policy into Practice

Presentation

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• Cohesion Policy has helped to reduce economic, social & environmental disparities.

• Cohesion Policy has benefited all regions through direct investments and indirect trade benefits.

• Cohesion Policy supports investments in European priorities across the EU.

• BUT… policy effectiveness could be improved.

Impact of Cohesion Policy

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• Stronger focus on results • Regular political debate on performance • Concentration • Experimentation • Structural Conditionalities • Performance Reserve• Better Indicators and their follow-up • Rigorous Evaluations & Evaluation plans • Summative Evaluations

Key Messages for Future based on Evidence from Ex Post

Evaluation (1)

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• More financial engineering • Operationalising territorial cohesion • An ambitious urban agenda • Stronger partnership • Local development approaches • Financial Issues• Cohesion policy in all regions and Member

States

Key Messages for Future based on Evidence from Ex Post

Evaluation (2)

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• Started in March 2007– ERDF evaluations completed in March 2010– Urban & Interreg completed in Summer 2010– Cohesion Fund to be completed in Summer

2011

• Thematic focus and selective• Designing terms of reference to appeal to real

expertise in different policy domains• Involvement of academic experts in each

contract to discuss and review methods and the policy analysis

Design of Ex Post Evaluation 2000-2006

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• Multiplicity of Cohesion Policy objectives (economic, social & territorial) and their relative priority need to be made more explicit.

• Need for concentration of expenditure• Indicators particularly for social and

territorial cohesion need to be developed• Value of Objective 2• Over-emphasis on absorption over

performance

Conclusions of the Ex Post Evaluation

Overall Design of Policy (1)

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• Evaluations to focus on effects of policy rather than process issues and absorption

• Improve programme indicators and report on performance regularly

• Public debate• Review N+2 because of negative effects for

policy of overlapping programming periods• More exchanges of experience related to

“mainstream” Cohesion Policy

Conclusions of the Ex Post Evaluation

Overall Design of Policy (2)

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• Enterprise support:– Aid to large enterprises?– More evidence needed on effects of interventions

• Transport:– More urban transport– Take account of environmental aspects –

intermodality– Questions for high speed rail, regional airports/ports,

new roads in EU15, road maintenance • Environmental Infrastructure:

– Clarify the case for intervention– Link to regional development

Conclusions of the Ex Post Evaluation

Policy Themes

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• Knowledge generated through management of the 19 evaluation contracts with:

– 45 Steering Group Meetings– 35 Expert Meetings

• Evaluators often not good at recommendations – need for interaction with policy makers/practitioners

• Each evaluation subject of note for management of DG REGIO on evaluation questions, quality, conclusions & our reaction to recommendations

• Shorter internal notes on proposals for change and on added value of the policy

Turning Evaluation Knowledge into Policy (1)

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• Dissemination of results outside the DG: – Events in Brussels and in Member States (usually

better for DG REGIO to present than evaluators)– Video– Printed copies with nice images

• In summary, establishing the main evaluation findings as “received wisdom”

• Crucial role of evaluation function in DG REGIO as broker:

– Designing the evaluation– Allowing the evaluators to be independent– Helping them with analysis– Communication findings & transforming them into

potential policy changes

Turning Evaluation Knowledge into Policy (2)

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

• Developing the draft regulations• Explaining the ideas to and discussing and developing

them with Member States• Developing Guidance, particularly on

– Programme design – strong theory of change - which can and will be evaluated

– Concentration of resources and how this might bring about change

– Capturing results

• But we can start now using the results of evaluations in the current period; we don’t have to wait for 2013+

And Turning Policy into Practice

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European UnionRegional Policy – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

Thank you for your attention