Initially seen as a side payment system for poorer EU member countries and aimed at lubricating additional economic integration, during the last decade the EU Cohesion Policy has turned into one of the cornerstone policies of the European Union, with a complex, multi-layers governance system and deploying more than one third of the EU total budget.

NEA, EIM and Research voor Beleid have been involved in Cohesion Policy-connected activities for many years, including evaluation of and research into CP-financed interventions at the European and national level, institutional support to European, national, regional and local public and private institutions in managing, implementing or applying for European funding, and training related to CP topics.

Nevertheless, the Cohesion Policy has increased in complexity and frequently involves complex multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral interventions and projects, at the European, national, regional and/or local level of governance; such interventions and projects require not only high quality services, but also interdisciplinary expertise. The knowledge combination offered by Panteia could respond, through synergies from cross-Panteia initiatives, to this need multi-disciplinary services.

Under the wider umbrella of Cohesion Policy, issues related to regional and geographical economic development have been subject of research within Panteia from different angles related to this: transport/ infrastructure, labour market/employment, education / training and business development / innovation for SMEs. Therefore, Panteia provides research services that can anticipate the integrated approach generally followed in regional and geographical economic development programmes. The latter is certainly the case for the Dutch tradition in policy-making, planning and programming, and generally for programmes all over Europe that are implemented with support from the European structural instruments.

Panteia offers a wide range of research activities in connection with EU Cohesion Policy:

• Policy evaluations Analysis of needs and opportunities (SWOT)
• Policy development and vision
• Analysis of present conditions and developments
• Benchmarking
• Sector specific analysis
• Monitoring and programme assessments

Among paramount projects exemplifying Panteia's portfolio in this policy field we can mention the ex-ante evaluation of the seven Romanian Operational Programmes elaborated under the Convergence Objective, and, currently under implementation, the ex-post evaluation of the INTERREG III Community Initiative (2000-2006). In both projects our European-wide network of experts played a very important role in delivering high quality and timely products to our client.

Should you require any further information on Cohesion Policy-related aspects, we are at your disposal:

Example projects:

Ex-ante evaluation of the objective of Operational Programme convergence 2007 - 2013
With an international consortium Panteia executed this evaluation of the Operational Programmes for Transport Infrastructure, Environmental Infrastructure, Economic Competitiveness, Human Resources, Regional Development, Modernisation Public Administration and Technical Assistance. The so-called Framework Document (Programme Complements) based on these OPs were also evaluated.

Ex post evaluation of the INTERREG 2000-2006 initiative financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)The overall aim of this project is to conduct the ex post evaluation of the INTERREG III 2000 - 2006 initiative financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This ex post evaluation should - according to the contract specifications - "establish the impact of the INTERREG III Initiative on the development of cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation leading to harmonious, balanced and sustainable development of the whole Community area".

Feasibility study on the possible multilateral Cross Border Cooperation (CBC) Programme for the Black Sea area
This study was executed in preparation for a possible future CBC programme for the Black Sea area to be financed by several EU funds, e.g. the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Instrument for Pre-accession (IPA) and the Neighbourhood Programme. Several scenarios and steps towards introducing, developing and implementing of such a program were proposed. The study also contained overviews of possible actions, fields of common interest and potential beneficiaries.

Updated mid-term evaluation NWE Programme INTERREG IIIB 2000 - 2006
According to the EU regulations concerned, the mid term evaluations from 2003 have to be updated in 2005 and be submitted to the European Commission before the end of that year. The INTERREG IIIB programmes support projects for trans-national cooperation in the field of spatial development. Within this programme projects are executed in the fields of: regions and cities, transport and ICT, water resources and flood risks, natural and cultural heritage, and ports and seas. During this project, assessments had to be conducted on:

• the financial progress of the programme
• the technical progress (outputs and results)
• an assessment of the impact and likely achievement of the objectives of the programme
  

Analysis of INTERREG IIIA Programmes 2000 - 2006 for Greece, Finland and Italy with new EU countries and with non-EU countries
The Interreg programs 2000 - 2006 from Greece (with Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, FYROM, Turkey), Italy (with Albania, Adriatic Cross border, Malta, Slovenia) and Finland (with Estonia and Russia) were extensively analysed. The purpose of the study was to gain in-depth knowledge of the functioning of the structures and procedures for these Interreg III-A programmes. It should address the "programme as well as the project management level". This study should contribute to a larger project of the INTERACT Tool Box in which all Interreg III-A programmes are internally analysed in this area.

Ex post evaluation INTERREG IIA programmes 1994-1999 in centrally located EU regions between Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
This ex post evaluation of the Objectives 2 programmes 1994-1999 was executed on the basis of a common framework prepared by LRDP. It comprised evaluation reports for all INTERREG IIa Programmes in these border regions (7 in total) and on case-studies related on specific themes. 

Ex ante evaluation of the Regional Development Operational Programme 2000 – 2006 and programme complement for Hungary

Execution of the ex ante evaluation of the Regional Development Operational Programme 2000 – 2006 and programme complement for Hungary. An assessment of the SWOT analysis, of the rational and overall consistency of the strategy, of the expected socio-economic impact, quantification of objectives,  the allocation of the financial resources, the quality of the implementation & monitoring arrangements and horizontal EU objectives.