Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

TITLE VII MONITORING AND EVALUATION

CHAPTER I General provisions

Section 1 Establishment and objectives of a monitoring and evaluation system

Article 67 Monitoring and evaluation system

In accordance with this Title, a common monitoring and evaluation system shall be drawn up in co-operation between the Commission and the Member States and shall be adopted by the Commission by means of implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 84.

Article 68 Objectives

The monitoring and evaluation system shall aim to:

(a)

demonstrate the progress and achievements of rural development policy and assess the impact, effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of rural development policy interventions;

(b)

contribute to better targeted support for rural development;

(c)

support a common learning process related to monitoring and evaluation.

Section 2 Technical provisions

Article 69 Common indicators

1. A list of common indicators relating to the initial situation as well as to the financial execution, outputs, results and impact of the programme and applicable to each programme shall be specified in the monitoring and evaluation system provided for in Article 67 to allow for aggregation of data at Union level.

2. The common indicators shall be based on available data and linked to the structure and objectives of the rural development policy framework and shall allow assessment of the progress, efficiency and effectiveness of policy implementation against objectives and targets at Union, national and programme level. The common impact indicators shall be based on available data.

3. The evaluator shall quantify the impact of the programme measured by the impact indicators. Based on evidence in the evaluations on the CAP, including evaluations on Rural Development programmes, the Commission shall, with the help of the Member States, assess the combined impact of all CAP instruments.

Article 70 Electronic Information System

Key information on the implementation of the programme, on each operation selected for funding, as well as on completed operations, needed for monitoring and evaluation, including key information on each beneficiary and project, shall be recorded and maintained electronically.

Article 71 Provision of information

Beneficiaries of support under rural development measures and local action groups shall undertake to provide to the Managing Authority and/or to appointed evaluators or other bodies delegated to perform functions on its behalf, all the information necessary to permit monitoring and evaluation of the programme, in particular in relation to meeting specified objectives and priorities.

CHAPTER II Monitoring

Article 72 Monitoring procedures

1. The Managing Authority and the Monitoring Committee referred to in Article 47 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall monitor the quality of the implementation of the programme.

2. The Managing Authority and the Monitoring Committee shall carry out monitoring of each rural development programme by means of financial, output and target indicators.

Article 73 Monitoring Committee

Member States with regional programmes may establish a national Monitoring Committee to coordinate the implementation of these programmes in relation to the National Framework and the uptake of financial resources.

Article 74 Responsibilities of the Monitoring Committee

The Monitoring Committee shall satisfy itself as to the performance of the rural development programme and the effectiveness of its implementation. To that end, in addition to the functions referred to in Article 49 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 the Monitoring Committee shall:

(a)

be consulted and shall issue an opinion, within four months of the decision approving the programme, on the selection criteria for financed operations, which shall be revised according to programming needs;

(b)

examine the activities and outputs related to the progress in the implementation of the evaluation plan of the programme;

(c)

examine, in particular, actions in the programme relating to the fulfilment of ex ante conditionalities, which fall within the responsibilities of the Managing Authority, and be informed of actions relating to the fulfilment of other ex ante conditionalities;

(d)

participate in the national rural network to exchange information on programme implementation; and

(e)

consider and approve the annual implementation reports before they are sent to the Commission.

Article 75 Annual implementation report

1. By 30 June 2016 and by 30 June of each subsequent year until and including 2024, the Member State shall submit to the Commission an annual implementation report on implementation of the rural development programme in the previous calendar year. The report submitted in 2016 shall cover the calendar years 2014 and 2015.

2. In addition to complying with the requirements of Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 annual implementation reports shall include information inter alia on financial commitments and expenditure by measure, and a summary of the activities undertaken in relation to the evaluation plan.

3. In addition to complying with the requirements of Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the annual implementation report submitted in 2017 shall also cover a description of the implementation of any sub-programmes included within the programme.

4. In addition to complying with the requirements of Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the annual implementation report submitted in 2019 shall also cover, a description of the implementation of any sub-programmes included within the programme and an assessment of progress made in ensuring an integrated approach to use of the EAFRD and other EU financial instruments to support the territorial development of rural areas, including through local development strategies.

5. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts, laying down rules concerning the presentation of the annual implementation reports. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 84.

CHAPTER III Evaluation

Article 76 General provisions

1. The Commission may adopt implementing acts, specifying the elements to be contained in the ex ante and ex post evaluations referred to in Articles 55 and 57 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and establishing the minimum requirements for the evaluation plan referred to in Article 56 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 84.

2. Member States shall ensure that the evaluations are in accordance with the common evaluation approach agreed in accordance with Article 67, shall organise the production and gathering of the requisite data, and shall supply the various pieces of information provided by the monitoring system to the evaluators.

3. The evaluation reports shall be made available by the Member States on the internet and by the Commission on its website.

Article 77 Ex ante evaluation

Member States shall ensure that the ex ante evaluator is involved from an early stage in the process of development of the rural development programme, including in the development of the analysis referred to in Article 8(1)(b), in the design of the programme's intervention logic and in the establishment of the programme's targets.

Article 78 Ex post evaluation

In 2024, an ex post evaluation report shall be prepared by the Member States for each of their rural development programmes. That report shall be submitted to the Commission by 31 December 2024.

Article 79 Syntheses of evaluations

Syntheses at Union level of the ex ante and ex post evaluation reports shall be undertaken under the responsibility of the Commission.

The syntheses of the evaluation reports shall be completed at the latest by 31 December of the year following the submission of the relevant evaluations.