Legal regulations regarding the impact evaluation methodology of structural and cohesion funds

• Author: Felix-Angel Popescu
• Position: Agora University of Oradea, Faculty of Legal and Administrative Sciences
• Pages: 89-94

AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijjs

ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677

No. 2 (2019), pp. 89 - 94

89

LEGAL REGULATIONS REGARDING THE IMPACT EVALUATION

METHODOLOGY OF STRUCTURAL AND COHESION FUNDS

F- A. POPESCU

Felix-Angel POPESCU

Agora University of Oradea, Faculty of Legal and Administrative Sciences

No. 8, Tineretului Square Street, Oradea, Romania

E-mail felixangelpopescu@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:

Establishing a legislative framework for addressing an appropriate methodology for

assessing the impact of Structural and Cohesion funds, in all 3 evaluation phases (ex-ante,

intermediate and ex-post), is necessary both for users of these funds (the resort ministry, the

intermediary bodies, the final beneficiaries – from an EU Member State) as well as for

researchers on this topic. The stage of the knowledge in the field of the impact of these funds

on each EU Member State economy narrows when the effects of the implementation of

projects at regional, county and urban - rural level are discussed.

KEYWORDS: impact, evaluation, methodology, Structural, Cohesion, funds.

INTRODUCTION

The European Commission has struggled to reduce the number of exceptions to the

community rules regarding the legal obligation for evaluation and impact assessment.

Community funding is not making any deviation from the rule, as in the recent years, there

was consolidated a thorough primary legislation

1

acknowledged by each Member State

concerning the allocation and implementation of intra-community financial assistance.

However, there is a lack of impact assessments of the European funded projects across

all Member States, which would serve to inform on ‘who will be affected and how, ensuring

economic, social and environmental impacts are considered together’

2

. Although such

necessities are systematically discussed in the decisional process between the European

Parliament, the Council and the European Commission, there are some procedural gaps and

time laps until the Member States take over the community acquis in this concern. In the

international legal literature regarding the regulations of impact evaluation, there are some

external institutions which help towards a better understanding of the evolutionary

perspectives which define impact assessments as an important evaluation tool in the European

Union decisional process – the World Bank

3

, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development

4

, as well as private consulting networks

5

or companies

6

.

1

https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/ro/information/legislation/regulations/ [01 .10.2019]

2

European Commission, Better regulation – taking stock and sustaining our commitmen t, Brussels, 2019, p. 9.

3

https://rulemaking.worldbank.org/en/ria-documents [01.10.2019]

4

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Build ing a framework for conducting Regulatory

Impact Analysis: Tools for policy makers, Paris, 2007.

5

https://www.sgi-network.org/2019/Governance/Executive_Capacity/Evidence-based_Instruments [01.10.2019]

6

S. Jacobs, Current trends in Regulatory Impact Analysis: the challenges of mainstreaming RIA into policy-

making, 2006.