Evaluations of the 2007-2013 programming period
Ex Post Evaluation of the ERDF and CF: Key outcomes of Cohesion Policy in 2007-2013
Main Findings
- Commission Staff Working Document: Ex post evaluation of the ERDF and Cohesion Fund 2007-13
- 9 ways Cohesion Policy works for Europe - main results 2007-2013
- Country factsheets
- Key Achievements
- Infographic
- Presentation - Cohesion policy delivering benefits for citizens - Main results 2007-2013
- Synthesis report
- Country reports
Work packages
The DG REGIO Evaluation unit - in cooperation with the Member States – is carrying out the ERDF/Cohesion Fund ex post evaluation 2007-2013 of 320 co-funded programmes. The evaluation consists of a set of 15 working packages most of them thematic in nature.
- Summary: The main purpose of this contract was to 1) gather and quality assess physical data reported by Managing Authorities from 2007-2013 in their Annual Implementation Reports (in particular 21 core indicators and specific indicators), 2) assess the reporting on major projects in the annual reports and 3) assess the feasibility of gathering financial data broken down by priority theme to the NUTS2 and 3 levels of region.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: Work Package 1 includes the Synthesis of the ex post evaluation of ERDF and Cohesion Fund support for the programming period 2007-2013, covering all related work packages. In addition, the work package includes several intermediate reports such as, for example, macroeconomic developments in the EU during 2007-2013, regional development trends in the EU during 2007-2013, and summary of the seminar on job creation.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: This evaluation comprises the analysis of 50 OPs representing 65% of the support to SMEs
and outlines the mechanisms and context where the OPs were implemented.
The study offer an in-depth examination of eight case studies of selected OPs and a theory-based impact evaluations of three policy instruments.
Key findings:- The ERDF provided a significant source of funds which helped SMEs to cope with the crisis in particular in those regions most severely affected.
- The ERDF enabled SMEs to survive or preserve pre-crisis levels of investment and employment.
- The analysis shows that more ambitious and structural effects also developed. In these cases, ERDF interventions fostered dynamics of change within targeted SMEs.
- For some SMEs the contribution of the ERDF accelerated or anticipated investment plans sometimes increasing their magnitude.
- Selected evidence illustrates that the ERDF played a catalytic role in supporting the strategic investment plans of SMEs, helping to increase profitability and exports.
- The ERDF triggered changes in the way SMEs do business. Some were visible and measurable (e.g. technologic upgrade), others related to the entrepreneur’s mind set.
- Behavioural changes were more evident in SMEs which already had longer experience with R&D projects where they stimulated deeper structural effects.
- When target SMEs were embedded into clusters or local production systems, there was evidence that positive effects spread to other enterprises.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: Financial instruments are a growing set of tools in Regional and Urban Policy - by 31 December 2012 a total of 816 specific funds had been set up across the EU, with EUR 10.5 billion in capital. This evaluation assesses the rationale, implementation and early evidence of effectiveness of equity/venture capital, loans and guarantees. A key policy question is how the costs (including set up) and benefits (increased investment, production, productivity and jobs) compare between the different financial instruments and with alternative enterprise support instruments such as grants.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: Large enterprises play an important role in regional development, but much of the evidence so far questions the impact of public support on large enterprise investment decisions – and their long term commitment to the region of location. This evaluation assesses the rationale, implementation and evidence of effectiveness of Cohesion Policy support in the 8 countries which account for 75% of ERDF support to large enterprises. The evaluation will compare direct effects and wider benefits as well as export-led, FDI-based strategies and development of the indigenous large enterprise base.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: This evaluation presents main achievements of cohesion policy in the area of transport infrastructure. It also offers assessment of the EU contribution to the comprehensive transport networks and its strength and weaknesses, focusing in particular on the financial analysis underlying the infrastructural projects.
- At over €82 billion, transport accounts for the biggest share of cohesion policy allocation (over 30%).
- This contribution enabled Member States to upgrade or expand their transport networks. By the end of 2013, the managing authorities reported 3,875 km of new roads built and over 23,000 km of roads reconstructed, as well as 269 km of new railroads and 3,136 km of reconstructed railroads.
- New or enhanced infrastructure provided better connectivity both within and across Member States borders. 47% of roads and 49% of railroads receiving the cohesion policy support were part of the TEN-T.
- Cohesion policy also stimulated improvement in the way transport interventions are planned (development of transport strategies) and prepared (improvement in quality of major projects applications).
- Deliverables:
- Transport - Final Report - Work Package 5 Ex post evaluation of Cohesion Policy programmes 2007-2013, focusing on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF). Bringing together the findings from all evaluation tasks and including catalogue of challenges (problems within the ex-ante financial analysis of major projects and solutions to overcome them)
- Summary: The evaluation analysed the progress and achievements of Cohesion Policy for environment related infrastructure focusing on two areas: waste management and water. The study assessed to what extent Cohesion Policy funding contributed to Member States' implementation of EU environmental directives and 2) environmental projects co-funded by Cohesion Policy are financially sustainable. In order to answer these questions, a broad review of the portfolio of projects and operational programmes and a more detailed analysis of the quality of the financial analysis for 20 selected major projects were carried out. 10 case studies examined implementation issues and provided a contextual understanding of the financial analysis: 3 projects for waste management (Poland/ Gdańsk, Portugal/ERSUC, Romania/Cluj County) and 7 projects for water (Czech Republic/Brno, Estonia/Kohtla-Järve Area, Greece/Koropiou & Paianias, Lithuania/Vilnius, Malta, Poland/ Żory, Portugal/SIMARSUL).
- The study found that the support for environment for the programming period 2007-2013 represented about € 46.5 billion and the decided amounts accounted for over 17% of all Cohesion Policy resources. In many EU13 and southern EU15 Member States, Cohesion Policy is one of the main sources of public financing and therefore provided a major contribution to achieving EU water and waste targets. Many of these countries have made broad progress: in the area of waste, the recycling rate increased in almost all EU13 Member States; in the area of water, projects financed by the ERDF and Cohesion Fund improved drinking water supply for at least 4 million EU citizens and contributed to better wastewater treatment for over 7 million EU citizens.
- The evaluation found that the financial analysis undertaken as part of the preparation of the examined major projects on water and waste management was of reasonable good quality and provided a sound basis for financial sustainability of those environmental projects.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: In the 2007-2013 programming period, energy efficiency allocations amounted to EUR 6 billion, a substantial increase from the 2000-2006 period. The evaluation will assess the rationale for types of interventions and early evidence of effectiveness of investments in energy efficiency in public and residential buildings.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: The evaluation will establish the nature of co-financed investments in the sector of tourism and culture and explore the rationale that guides their potential and actual contribution to deliver growth and jobs. At least EUR 14 Billion is planned for investment in tourism and culture activities in the period 2007-2013. The study will synthesise outputs and results achieved, and will assess the effectiveness of strategies and interventions in these policy areas.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: The evaluation will establish the nature and objectives of co-financed investments in the fields of urban development and social infrastructures and assess the extent to which they were delivered through integrated strategies or not. The overall aim of the evaluation is to explore the rationale that guides investments in these fields and their potential and actual contribution to deliver growth and jobs.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: The evaluation will establish what results have been achieved via co-operation programmes across Europe, with particular focus on co-operation in the field of research, technology and innovation, environmental protection and enhancement, and capacity building. It will assess the results of knowledge transfer across regions from the INTERREG IV C Programme and analyse to what extent ETC programmes contributed to the Jobs and Growth agenda.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: The main purpose of this evaluation is to analyse the effectiveness and efficiency of cohesion policy implementation during the 2007-2013 period and to identify the main underlying success factors and areas in need of development. The evaluation covers cohesion policy programmes financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF).
- Deliverables:
- Summary: The study collected and mapped information on the regional breakdown of the ERDF and CF invested through more than 300 Programmes, (Convergence Objective, RCE Objective and cross border programmes under the ETC Objective). The aim was to identify cumulative allocations to selected projects and expenditure at NUTS3 and NUTS2 level (where available) broken down by the 86 priority themes and to make estimates, based on a elaborated methodology, where the data was not available. 2007 – 2013 database was consolidated with 2000 – 2006 data, creating a unified database for the last two programming periods at NUTS2 level. Further consolidation of 1994-1999 expenditure at NUTS2 level was considered.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: This report provides an assessment of the programmes implemented under EU cohesion and rural development policies during the programming period 2007-2013. The impacts of these programmes at country level, and on the EU economy, are analysed based on a set of simulations conducted with QUEST III, a model developed by the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission.
Overall, this analysis indicates that the policies for cohesion and rural development yield high value for money. As expected from policies aimed at supporting long-term sustainable development, the impact on GDP per euro invested increases steadily over time. Furthermore, the results indicate that the Union efforts to allocate resources to these policies generate a common benefit for all the members of the EU, especially in the medium and long run. - Deliverables:
- Summary: This analysis provides an assessment of the programmes implemented under EU cohesion policy during the programming period 2007-2013. The impacts of these programmes are analysed at regional level, based on a set of simulations conducted with RHOMOLO, a regional model developed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The results of the study indicate that the impacts of cohesion policy are positive and significant, particularly in regions which are the main beneficiaries of cohesion funds. Over the medium to long term, the impacts on regional development range from 0.2% to 9% of estimated additional GDP across all regions in EU27. When compared with the analysis at country level (such as in WP1a with QUEST), the current study illustrates the added value of an analysis at regional level: depending on the stage of regional development and on the amount and timing of resources allocated, the potential of cohesion investments may differ markedly in terms of impacts on regions within countries.
- Deliverables:
- Summary: These counterfactual impact evaluations estimate the effects of the varying intensities of the EU Funds (sum of structural and cohesion funds) on a number of regional growth variables in the EU-27 regions during the period 1994 to 2013.
The results show a positive impact in terms of annual per-capita GDP growth due to the higher intensity of EUF in the Objective 1 /Convergence regions. This is compared to a counterfactual status of receiving the lower average intensity of the non-Objective 1 / non-convergence regions. The impacts on gross fixed capital formation and employment rate changes are also positive but not statistically significant.
- Deliverables:
- Measuring the impact of Structural and Cohesion Funds using the Regression Discontinuity Design, Final technical report - Work package 14c of the Ex Post Evaluation of the ERDF and CF 2007-2013
- Propensity score matching - Final Report - Work package 14d Ex post evaluation of Cohesion Policy programmes 2007-2013, focusing on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF)