Regional Policy Ex post Evaluation of the Cohesion Fund and ISPA in period Adam Abdulwahab Evaluation Unit DG Regional Policy Evalaution network meeting Brussels, 22nd June 2012

Regional Policy Evaluation Work WPA – contribution to transport and environment WPB – CBA of selected transport projects WPC – CBA of selected environmental projects WPD – management and implementation system WPE - synthesis All deliverables published on Inforegio aluations/archives_2000_2006_en.cfm#5

Regional Policy Synthesis - Work package E Tasks Analysis & Synthesis of previous WPs Seminar with MS on findings Deliverables Synthesis report – yet to be finalised Country reports 10-pages long for each beneficiary MS Comments from MS are being processed

Regional Policy Rationale and focus of Cohesion Fund CF helps relatively low income countries to finance investment in infrastructure and relieves some of pressure on public finances Support for transport has two objectives strengthening the trans-European network boosting growth potential of countries concerned Support for environment aims to help MS comply with EU legislation aimed at ensuring minimum environment standards across the Union

Regional Policy Baseline situation EU-12: broadly similar Transport connections within countries and with neighbouring countries in need of improvement Environmental infrastructure in a poor state Cohesion 4 (EL, ES, IE, PT) ES, PT: investments in road and rail networks over preceding decade EL, IE: road network in particular still in process of being modernised Environment infrastructure slightly better than in EU-12 but significant investment gap

Regional Policy Pace of project implementation Legal basis: Project-based without n+2 rule Implementation is seriously delayed – no improvement in this period Various reasons Fastest in Cohesion 4, then MS joined in 2004 with BG, RO slightly behind Environmental projects slower than transport projects, mainly in initial phases

Regional Policy Preparation of projects – CBA Potential gains from CBA not exploited, esp. environment (comply with EU Directives) Often CBA regarded as formal requirement to obtain EU co-funding carried out at end of preparation process too late to influence relevant decisions Noticeable improvements over time Direction for future improvements: consistency of parameters demand analysis

Regional Policy Deficiencies in information Project indicators relate to direct output useful for verifying that output is as planned difficult to interpret in terms effect on policy objectives (e.g. enhancing transport links, compliance with EU Directives) Information insufficient to examine unit costs in detail; this would make it possible to assess cost effectiveness, or at least identify aspects of costs for more detailed investigation assess accuracy of estimates of benefits and costs

Regional Policy Achievements – Transport Focus on completing network within MS than connections to neighbouring countries Cohesion 4: ES, PT: emphasis on rail EL, IE: emphasis on road EL, PT: significant share of urban transport EU-12: roads dominating

Regional Policy Achievements – Environment Main focus: compliance with EU directives, esp. in EU-12 – significant progress in this area Impacts on regional development overlooked Maintenance often neglected Tariffing problems (affordability vs. polluter pays) can undermine effectiveness

Regional Policy Management and Implementation Previous experience important Capacity generally weaker at local level (environmental projects) Over the period improvements in all countries, though to differing extents, due to ‘learning-by-doing’ training of staff technical assistance from external experts, particularly CBA, EIA

Regional Policy Thank you for your attention impact/evaluation/index_en.cfm