Suchergebnisse

Introduction: Understanding the Effectiveness of EU Cohesion Policy -- The Evaluation of EU Cohesion Policy -- A Different Approach to Evaluating Cohesion Policy : Theory-Based Evaluation -- What was the Problem? Regional Development Challenges and Needs -- Regional Strategies and their Relevance to Needs -- The Effectiveness of Programmes in Achieving Objectives -- The Relevance of Programmes to Regional Needs : Utility-- Implications for the Design and Implementation of Policies and Programmes -- Conclusions

This is the Final Report of the Ex Post Evaluation of the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) 2002-2016. It describes the aims and operation of the Fund, its evolution over time, and it provides answers to a series of evaluation questions concerning its effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and added value for the EU. In addition, it assesses evaluation questions relating to the contribution of the EUSF to solidarity in the EU. The study presents the results of empirical work drawing on in-depth examination of documentation of all the applications to the EUSF from its inception in 2002 up to the end of 2016, fieldwork research for case studies of seven EUSF interventions and empirical investigation of the synergies of the Fund with other EU and domestic intervention for disaster risk prevention and management. The evaluation finds that the EUSF achieves its core aim of expressing the EU's solidarity towards countries affected by severe natural disasters, but it is less obvious that it succeeds in the political aim of demonstrating the value of the EU for beneficiaries. The study assesses in detail the performance of the EUSF, drawing a series of conclusions and making recommendations for the future of the Fund.

This book brings together academics, members of European institutions, and regional and national level policymakers in order to assess the performance and direction of EU Cohesion policy against the background of the most significant reforms to the policy in a generation. Responding to past criticisms of the effectiveness of the policy, the policy changes introduced in 2013 have aligned European Structural and Investment Funds with the Europe 2020 strategy and introduced measures to improve strategic coherence, performance and integrated development. EU Cohesion Policy: Reassessing performance and direction argues that policy can only be successfully developed and implemented if there is input from both academics and practitioners. The chapters in the book address four important issues: the effectiveness and impact of Cohesion policy at European, national and regional levels; the contribution of Cohesion policy to the Europe 2020 strategy of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; the importance of quality of government and administrative capacity for the effective management of the Funds; and the inter-relationships between institutions, territory and place-based policies. The volume will be an invaluable resource to students, academics and policymakers across economics, regional studies, European studies and international relations.

Historically, cooperation across borders was an area of activity dominated by central government actors. However, in the EU some of the earliest institutionalised forms of territorial cooperation are based on bottom-up initiatives involving border municipalities. Current territorial cooperation arrangements continue to be strongly based upon local and regional institutions and actors. Theoretical work on Europeanisation, multi-level governance and new regionalism highlights the increased role of sub-national actors in driving economic development and participating in external networking and cooperation activities. However, the scope and diversity of programmes mean that the opportunities for local and regional partners in terms of influencing the outcomes of programmes are equally varied. There have been significant differences in governance dimensions of programmes. Key questions this paper explores are to what extent bottom-up or top-down approaches are used as well as differences in terms of centralised or localised management or implementation structures. The first part of this paper explores which actors influence key processes in the territorial cooperation cycle at which stage and how these can vary across programmes in order to assess the existence of governance dimensions. The second part of the paper builds on the first section and will specifically focus on the impact that macro-regional strategies have had and can expected to have in the future. These strategies have the potential to significantly affect established territorial cooperation programmes (such as INTERREG). However, its full implications are not fully understood. This section will also explore how these macro-regional strategies may lead to changes in governance approaches and have an impact on the types of partners that European territorial cooperation attracts. The paper's overall aim is to assess to what extent the multi-level governance paradigm extents to the operationalization of territorial cooperation programmes and how future developments will affect it. The paper focuses INTERREG A and B strands of European territorial cooperation but its findings can be applied more broadly. It draws from data collected in relation to a major ESPON study (ESPON TERCO). The paper makes use of data from 8 broad case studies that are based on 224 in depth interviewees as well as 5 in-depth case studies that examined issues of governance, coordination, management and implementation of territorial cooperation. For these 5 in depth case studies a total of 35 respondents were interviewed.

Implemented by a joint initiative of ARL and DATAR (Délégation à lÁménagement du Territoire et à lÁction Régionale) an international group of experts reflected regional development policies. Due to a variety of reasons, economic development is accompanied with different regional performances in terms of income, employment, growth etc. Empirical studies and theoretical works in modern regional economics indicate that even in relatively homogeneous groups of countries like the EU economic convergence need time and this is certainly true after EU enlargement, because new Member States with a lower economic performance joint the community. To enhance efficiency and reduce disparities across regions, different approaches have been proposed as a framework for regional development policy; among them are the growth pole concept, spatial economic corridors, and recently, spatial economic networks. This last one emphasizes the role of cooperation among regions and provides a new spatial policy framework. Instead of considering the individual problem regions (as the traditional approach does) trans-national networks and European macro-regions constitute the new typology of the spatial policy framework. Within this new paradigm of regional policy there is a greater tendency to see regions in terms of spatial economic networks and to see the EU as a part of a global competitive innovation system. Due to the economic and political structure of the new Member States and the Candidate Countries regional policies should concentrate on infrastructure, human and social capital, network formation to facilitate the transfer of innovation technology, on areas affected by industrial conversion and on the role played by interregional, international and trans-border cooperation. They should support the modernisation of the institutional system in Central and Eastern Europe and the process of decentralization not only institutional, but also financially. They should enhance local administrative competencies and promote the periphery of the new Member States and the Candidate Countries and increase the cross-border cooperation. These measures together with a substantial reform of EU regional policy and their funds are necessary to make the enlargement to a success story.

The overall goal of the BioSTEP project is to develop a set of recommendations for the participatory design of bioeconomy strategies at different levels. This paper is the first deliverable under WP3 and focuses on two national case studies. WP3 aims: - To identify and collate information on national and regional strategies relating to the bioeconomy, which are examples of good practice in terms of the participation of a broad range of stakeholders and citizens in the design, implementation and monitoring/review of the strategies, - To analyse these strategies and the mechanisms used to ensure the participation of stakeholders and citizens, and to synthesise findings, with a view to drawing out insights on participative ways of governing the bioeconomy, and - To make this knowledge available to a wider audience, with a view to raising awareness and encouraging dialogue. This report documents the first steps towards addressing these aims, which involve an assessment of how different publics have participated in the development, implementation and review of national policy-led bioeconomy strategies in Finland and in Germany. It also explores the benefits and challenges of different approaches to participation in these policy strategies, and draws