The programming period 2014-2020 – Guidance document on evaluation plans

Summary:

The regulation for the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) represents a radical change for operational programmes. The Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) emphasises programme objectives, the logic of intervention to achieve the expected results and the evaluation of effectiveness and impacts. Furthermore it requires from Managing Authorities and the Commission annual reporting on outputs and results, including findings of evaluations where available. In order to strengthen the contribution of evaluations to the effectiveness of the programmes, the CPR makes it compulsory for Managing Authorities to design evaluation plans at the beginning of the programming period. The role of the evaluation plan is central to achieving this aim: it will support quality evaluations as well as their effective use by Managing Authorities; it will facilitate sharing of knowledge on what works and how in different policy fields; and, ultimately, it will contribute to the design and implementation of evidence based programmes and policies.