An important source of such generic guidance has been the MEANS collection - a valuable and comprehensive set of handbooks published by the European Commission in 1999. The MEANS collection became a standard text for European evaluators and has enjoyed a justifiable reputation for its scope, ambition and coverage. Many aspects of that collection have stood the test of time and have been incorporated into this GUIDE. However, times have also moved on since 1999. In particular:
- There have been major changes in the world of evaluation practice, with the emergence of new evaluation tools, a heightened role for theory, new participatory and qualitative approaches (especially relevant to socio economic development) a stronger emphasis on counterfactual impact evaluation and an emphasis on the institutionalisation of evaluation.
- European policy has moved on, especially following the Lisbon Agenda. The role of human and social capital, the importance of information society and the knowledge economy as a means of achieving greater competitiveness and priorities of sustainable development and equal opportunities have all been brought to the fore.
- The accession of ten new member states in 2004 and two more in 2007 also poses challenges for evaluation. Structural Funds have been introduced into public administrations with a relatively short experience of evaluation and consequently without a well developed evaluation culture. The authors of this GUIDE have had in mind throughout its preparation, the capacity building needs of many new member states. In practical terms we are concerned to maximize what can be achieved pragmatically with available resources, skills, institutional arrangements and data sources.
- Experience of evaluating the Structural Funds developed over the 2000-2006 programming period and the regulatory approach for evaluation of Structural Funds in 2007-2013 introduces both a more strategic and flexible approach, requiring more emphasis on specific evaluation questions.
Together these changes are substantial and this GUIDE was written and has been updated to take account of their consequences. It has also been planned and written to anticipate future change. There is no reason to believe that the future pace of change of evaluation and of socio economic policy will slow down. For this reason and to enable the ready updating of material in the GUIDE, Sourcebook material and the Glossary are accessible and searchable via the Internet.