1.Mid-term and ex post evaluation shall deal with the specific issues arising in the rural development programming document concerned and with common evaluation questions relevant at Community level. These shall relate to the living conditions and structure of the rural population, employment and income from farm and off-farm activities, agricultural structures, agricultural commodities, quality, competitiveness, forest resources and the environment.
If a common evaluation question is not considered relevant to a particular rural development programming document, this shall be substantiated.
2.Mid-term evaluation shall deal with the evaluation questions and shall examine in particular the initial achievements, their relevance to and consistency with the rural development programming document and the extent to which the targets have been attained. It shall also assess the use made of financial resources and the operation of monitoring and implementation.
Ex post evaluation shall answer the evaluation questions, paying particular attention to the use made of resources and the effectiveness and efficiency of assistance and its impact and shall draw conclusions concerning rural development policy, including its contribution to the common agricultural policy.
3.Mid-term and ex post evaluation shall be performed in consultation with the Commission under the responsibility of the authority in charge of managing rural development programming.
4.The quality of individual evaluations shall be assessed using recognised methods by the authority in charge of managing the rural development programming document, the Monitoring Committee, if any, and the Commission. The results of the evaluations shall be made available to the public.