Organisational models of programme authorities managing EU Cohesion policy 2000-2020
Purpose and Objectives
In September 2022, DG Regio commissioned PPMI in association with the European Policies Research Centre to study the organisational models of the programme authorities involved in implementing ERDF programmes over the first two decades of the 21st Century. The study is distinctive in its focus upon the “machinery of implementation” for ERDF programmes, how implementation has evolved and what have been the triggers for change.The objectives of the study have been:• to assemble evidence on the main changes in the organisational models of Managing Authorities over the three programming periods 2000–2006, 2007-2013, 2014-2020;• to analyse the relationship between organisational changes identified and the contexts in which programme authorities have been operating; and• to explore the implications of this learning for the challenges experienced by authorities implementing the 2021-2027 programmes and/or preparing for the following programming period.
Research Methods
The work of the research team has comprised:• desk-based research covering EU legislation, secondary literature and statistical data on the financial implementation of ERDF programmes in the three programme periods under study; and• primary research involving in-depth interviews of 31 programme authorities across the EU27, targeted to be reasonably representative, and a self-completion survey sent to all other MAs of the 2014-20 programmes.
Research Concept
The study has been designed around an organisational development model devised by the European Institute of Public Administration1. The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) identifies the main sets of factors related to the functioning of MAs: (1) the context of an organisation – framework conditions; (2) enablers (capacities); and (3) results of organisational performance, linking these factors within a single and comprehensive framework. The CAF model has been adapted to the particular purposes of this project.