On 29-30 October, EPRC welcomed a group of officials from southern and western Finland to participate in a training programme on the programming of Structural Funds for 2014-20. The programme was organised under the auspices of IQ-Net, a knowledge exchange programme managed by EPRC to promote the exchange of experience among managing authorities from 15 EU Member States on the management and implementation of Structural Funds programmes.
The programme was designed to address three sets of issues:
- good practice in developing a regional development strategy and the application of these principles to Structural Funds programming;
- the new performance requirements and specifically the Commission's expectations for results, with respect to concepts and practice, and the implications for strategy development, reporting, monitoring and evaluation;
- different methods for implementing the Funds, based on the structures and practices in different Member States and regions (including integration and coordination of the Funds) and how administrative efficiency and effectiveness and the reduction of administrative burdens for beneficiaries can be achieved.
The programme drew on presentations by officials and evaluators from Scotland, the Netherlands and Austria, as well as from the Evaluation Unit and Coordination Unit of DG Regio and from EPRC staff. With a combination of plenary and small-group discussions, the objective was to encourage critical reflection on the way in which Structural Funds have been managed in southern and western Finland and to promote discussion on how future implementation could be improved under the new regulatory framework