Jaspers initiative in 2014-2020 - Mid-term evaluation

The objective of this evaluation is to analyse the contribution made by services provided by the Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions (JASPERS) to the development of high-quality, mature infrastructure projects and to the development of administrative capacity of managing authorities and beneficiaries in preparing such projects. The evaluation addresses five evaluation criteria (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, EU added value) in line with the Better Regulation Guidelines.

The evaluation shows that JASPERS advisory services, capacity building and horizontal and strategy support services positively contribute to achieving JASPERS’ objective of improving the maturity of projects and project applications. At the stage of this mid-term evaluation, it is harder to discern the extent to which they are having an impact on improving the administrative capacity of national authorities. Review services provided by JASPERS are found to be important in acting as a quality filter and facilitating the process of appraisal and approval of major projects. While a great deal has already been achieved in terms of improvements in the delivery of JASPERS services, there is room for further improvements in the delivery of such services in order to increase their EU added value in the preparation and implementation of projects.