The last issue of the European Structural and Investment Funds Journal for 2016 has come out, with two articles from EPRC, on effects of past reforms and possible further improvements.
In "The Contribution of ESI Funds to Jobs and Growth: How are the New Reforms Working?", John Bachtler, Carlos Mendez and Laura Polverari examine how the changes introduced by the 2013 reform of Cohesion policy have influenced the programming process, and managing authorities’ early experiences of programme delivery. Their article discusses how the reforms are perceived with respect to strategic coherence, thematic concentration, results orientation, the performance framework, ex-ante conditionalities, financial instruments, and integrated territorial development.
Also looking ahead, Martin Ferry and Stefan Kah assess the potential for maximising synergies between ESI Funds programmes and other EU instruments contributing to Europe 2020 goals in "Maximisation of Synergies between European Structural and Investment Funds and other EU Instruments". Their article builds on a EPRC project (more information here) and provides an analysis of the future and existing scope for synergies, and identifies different arenas where synergies can be pursued, noting what has been achieved thus far.
Please get in touch with Rona Michie for more information
