Projects

TRACER aims to support a number of coal-intensive regions around Europe to design (or re-design) their research and innovation strategies in order to facilitate their transition towards a sustainable energy system.

The project focuses on nine regions. These are South East Bulgaria, North West Bohemia (CZ), Lusatian Lignite District (DE), West Macedonia (GR), Upper Silesian Coalfield (PL), West Romania and Wales (UK) within the EU, and Kolubara (Serbia) and Donetsk (Ukraine) outside the EU.

Core activities include:

• bringing together a wide range of stakeholders in each target region to discuss and agree on a shared vision and priorities for coal transition
• joint development of R&I strategies, industrial roadmaps and decision support tools
• identification and analysis of best practice examples of successful and ambitious transition processes in coal intensive regions
• assessment of social, environmental and technological challenges
• the elaboration of guidelines on how to mobilise investment
• activities to stimulate R&I cooperation among coal intensive regions in Europe and beyond.

To visit the TRACER website, click here.  

EPRC is coordinating a study for the European Commission aimed at enhancing the understanding of the planned and implemented use of Technical Assistance (TA) under EU Cohesion Policy programmes during the 2014-20 period. Given the important contribution of Technical Assistance to the successful implementation of Cohesion Policy, the study will provide a better understanding of the use of TA and present cases of TA-funded sustainable capacity building activities, particularly in the area of Human Resources Development.

From a policy perspective, the key issues are whether and how TA is being used to strengthen the administrative capacity of Member States for implementing Operational Programmes and projects. The project also seeks to understand whether this Technical Assistance investment is sustainable – whether TA is planned and monitored to ensure the strengthening of administrative capacity beyond the life of an OP.

The project is led by a core team comprising EPRC and Red2Red researchers, and involves also a team of National Experts in the Member States.

This project involved research on the take up and effectiveness of financial instruments (FIs). The new regulatory framework for EU Cohesion policy in 2014-20 has reinforced the scope for (repayable) financial instruments to deliver Cohesion policy objectives, as an alternative to using grants. The research focuses on: identifying the rationale for using FIs within Cohesion policy programmes; providing a ‘stocktake’ of how EU Member States are making use of FIs in 2014-20; identifying the issues which influence uptake of FIs; and analysing complementarities and interaction between Cohesion-policy funded FIs and other sources of funding such as the European Fund for Strategic Investments.

This study assess the implementation of financial instrument in Cohesion policy in terms of their economy, efficiency and effectiveness during the 2007-13 programming period.  The study takes stock of existing knowledge on the operation of FIs as reflected in the academic literature and policy documents, as well as undertaking eight case studies. A comparative analysis of the case studies, focusing on the different stages in the lifecycle of FIs, provides the basis on which to draw lessons from the implementation of FIs in 2007-13, highlighting implications for 2014-20.

The project, undertaken for the European Parliament REGI Committee, provided a comprehensive analysis and assessment of how Cohesion Policy objectives have been delivered through measures that involved the EIB Group. Specifically, it focused on: the role of EIB Group in the implementation of Cohesion Policy; the effectiveness of EIB activities in Cohesion Policy; accountability, transparency and visibility of EIB Group activities; relationships between EU institutions and EIB Group; and future expectations of the EIB Group.

The project involves the development, management and operationalisation of the fi-compass technical assistance platform. Specifically, the project involves support to the EIB in providing horizontal assistance and advisory services for ESIF financial instruments to the EU public sector. Target groups are in particular EU Member States and Managing Authorities, but also the European Commission and the general public. The intended effect is to increase the quality, scale and the speed of establishment of Financial Instruments funded through ESIF. EPRC research inputs include studies and evaluation research on the implementation of financial instruments under Cohesion policy.

The project comprised an ex post evaluation of the rationale, implementation and early evidence of the effectiveness of financial engineering instruments in the 2007-13 period. The study focusses on the eleven countries where total equity/venture capital exceeds EUR 100 million or where loan and guarantee support exceeds EUR 200 million, plus Denmark where equity/venture capital accounts for a high proportion of spending. The research involves assessing the policy rationales for the instruments as well as the literature to develop typical theories of change for why and how the various instruments work.

The project involved the development of a series of awareness-raising factsheets and case studies as guidance for managing authorities given the steep learning curve faced by stakeholders in 2007-13, the continued drive to increase implementation of FIs in 2014-20 and the changes introduced by the regulations.

The project - sharing methodologies on FINancial ENgineering for enterprises (FIN-EN) - aimed to enhance cooperation between regional and national authorities across Europe on the methodologies and instruments used for implementing financial instruments in the framework of EU Structural Funds, in order to find concrete solutions to common problems and promote a more efficient and effective use of financial instruments in the future. FIN-EN is a network of 13 regional and national institutions from 13 different EU Member States, managing 45 financial instruments under 2007-13 Structural Funds programmes, with a total budget of circa €3.5 billion, without the support of the European Investment Fund (EIF).

The project involved an assessment of the evidence on EU Cohesion policy concerning whether and to what extent the objectives of the relevant policies have been met, and whether these policies and funds have delivered value for money – and an understanding of how this varies within and between policies. The review also considered EU infrastructure expenditure that might contribute to the broad aim of cohesion, specifically Trans-European Networks. The study contributed to the UK Government's EU Balance of Competences Review