The ‘Study to support the mid-term evaluation of cohesion policy programmes 2021-2027 financed by the ERDF, the Cohesion Fund and the JTF’ was performed from January to October 2024 by a consortium including t33 as lead partner, ÖIR and Spatial Foresight under a contract with the European Commission – Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy. The study covers the 27 Member States. It provides a detailed analysis of the design, programming and implementation of the three mentioned cohesion policy funds.
The project team conducted a literature review of more than 500 items from 90 programmes. Moreover, a detailed analysis of fund and programme allocations by Member State and category of region, of needs at NUTS2 level, of financial implementation data, output and result indicator target as well as progress based on selected and implemented operations was carried out. A survey, interviews as well as the organisation of a seminar complemented the analyses.
The ÖIR team was in charge of the quantitative analyses carried out within the course of the project, including the analysis of the financial and physical progress of the programmes (in comparison with the previous programming period).
The study conclusions, findings and answers to the evaluation questions will inform programme implementation in the second part of the programming period (2024-2027). It will also support reprogramming to improve use of the Funds, as well as pave the way for preparation of the next generation of cohesion fund programmes.
The Commission Staff Working Document to which the study contributed to is now available here.
