Mid-term evaluation reveals that the Programme is working well towards achieving its overall goal: strengthening the social, economic and territorial development of the cross-border area.
Evaluations are carried out to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the Programme. The aim of the evaluations is to assess how support from the funds has contributed to the objectives of each Priority Axis. In 2019, the Programme contracted experts to carry out a comprehensive operational evaluation on the efficiency and effectiveness of the Programme.
Findings of the evaluation are summarized in the final report titled Evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Interreg IPA CBC Programme Croatia – Serbia 2014 – 2020. According to evaluators, Programme bodies are effectively managing cross-border cooperation and ensuring that projects are creating sustainable results in both Croatia and Serbia.
Main points of the report are outlined below:
- There is a clear and efficient assignment of functions and responsibilities among Programme bodies, which is reflected in successful implementation of Calls for Proposals, selection processes and providing support to beneficiaries.
- The Programme has reached a satisfactory number of applicants during Calls for Proposals, meaning that Interreg is a well-known financing instrument in the cross-border area.
- Projects are producing tangible outputs in the field of social care and healthcare, energy efficiency and environment protection, tourism, heritage and competitiveness of both Croatia and Serbia. Although differences occur among Priority Axes, project results are leading to the achievement of Programme-level targets set for the 2014-2020 period.
- Communication is consistent across the Programme area, because of projects communicating their activities and due to favorable support from Programme bodies to beneficiaries (89% of respondents have stated that no difficulties were encountered when implementing communication requirements). Evaluation findings suggest that future communication measures should put focus on capitalization activities.
- The eMS proved to be a useful and reliable tool for monitoring of projects and their progress, although occasional setbacks appear. The system is being improved continuously, with new functions introduced regularly and weaknesses removed.
Read the final evaluation report here.
Find out more about Programme evaluations here.
