Ex-post evaluation of the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund 2014-2020

Key points

The EESC:

• believes that both the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund (CF) should also focus on increasing access to reskilling and upskilling as well as on developing economic growth opportunities for all EU citizens;
• stresses that social dialogue can be a useful tool to that end;
• believes that the ERDF and the CF should focus more on vulnerable population groups, as the results achieved remain unsatisfactory;
• thinks that special attention should also be paid to ensuring balanced territorial development for all regions;
• supports that the core principles of cohesion (the partnership principle, shared management, and multi-level governance) are still relevant and should be maintained as guiding principles;
• acknowledges that improving consultation with civil society also means ensuring that their feedback is meaningfully incorporated into EU programme planning;
• asks that the economic and social impact of European fund investments should be properly assessed;
• pinpoints that the administrative capacity must be reinforced so that civil society actors can play a more active role;
• recommends to focus on long-term economic sustainability. This would entail integrating social, environmental, and accessibility factors into infrastructure planning;
• is of the opinion that more programmes are needed for SMEs and the self-employed. These two groups form the backbone of the economies of most EU Member States;
• believes that consulting civil society is important and necessary for the whole process of cohesion policy and the related funds, especially in view of the upcoming proposal for a new MFF, which is expected in the third quarter of 2025;
• stresses that social inclusion is important and needs to be further strengthened and administrative capacity must be reinforced so that civil society actors can play a more active role;
• recommends to include beneficiaries more effectively in ERDF and CF planning, since they have a deep knowledge of the current challenges and which priorities should be set. It is difficult to design such programmes without the active participation of all stakeholders;
• believes that the sense of ownership over programmes is crucial for effective implementation, as is the provision of sufficient resources allocated to NGOs for monitoring and overseeing the use of EU funds;
• believes that simplifying application and implementation processes is of vital importance in order to facilitate participation and cooperation;
• thinks that the complementarity of EU funds should be promoted, as this would improve efficiency and effectiveness;
• recommends that channels of participation should be broadened to include all types and new forms so that participation reaches everyone and all phases and is not limited to certain cases;
• thinks that strengthening the institutional capacity of the social partners is crucial in order to break the existing distrust;
• proposes that administrative flexibility should be considered a key objective of any cohesion policy;
• believes that more should be done for border regions that have experienced significant difficulties in recent years.