Future research on European Union Cohesion Policy: a Master Class during the OPEN DAYS 2014

Figures & data

Table 1. Quantitative indicators.

	Scoreboard (0–100)	Traffic light system (green/yellow/red)
Quant. 1 – Absorption rates (per country, NUTS-2, NUTS-3 and operational programmes (OPs)/priority axes
Quant. 2 – (a) Number of staff per institution and
(b) number of staff per institution in relation to the number of projects managed
Quant. 2 – Number of procedures used per institution
Quant. 3 – Number of (a) stages and (b) procedures used for public procurement
Quant. 4 – Time needed at the project level for:
(a) Application – average number of days from when applications are submitted until they are (i) evaluated and (ii) contracted (b) Payments – average number of days for receiving payments: (i) advance payments; (ii) reimbursements; and (iii) project closures
Quant. 5 – Frequency of use of e-government:
(a) Number of applications per OP/priority axes (b) Number and use of online project management tools by responsible authorities (c) Numbers of beneficiaries using online interfaces to interact with administrators/manage their project
Quant. 6 – System transparency:
(a) Number of projects contracted (b) Number of projects rejected (c) Number of tenders from European Union-funded projects (d) Number of rejected tenders from European Union-funded projects (e) Number of appeals submitted to the managing authorities or other institutions/courts (f) Number of appeals with a positive decision for the beneficiaries
Quant. 7 – Project selection:
(a) Political/economic affiliation of public beneficiaries during the time of contracting and at the closure of contracts (b) Political/economic affiliation of subcontractors
Quant. 8 – Transparency and corruption indexes
Quant. 9 – Number of consultancy firms engaged in European Union-funded projects
Quant. 10 – Number of beneficiaries per country, NUTS-2, NUTS-3 and across OPs/priority axes

Table 2. Qualitative indicators

	Scoreboard (0–100)	Traffic light system (green/yellow/red)
Qual. 1 – Self-evaluation of European Union fund administrators:
(a) Factors affecting day-to-day work (b) Training – accessed by each employee/training needs per employee (c) Proposals for work efficiency and for improving the work environment
(Questionnaire – Common Assessment Framework CAF model)
Qual. 2 – Quality of and compliance with procedures at the institutional level (interviews; case studies)
Qual. 3 – Difficulties and best practices in public procurement (interviews; case studies)
Qual. 4 – Equal opportunities (interviews, case studies)
Qual. 5 – Customer perspectives – using customer relationship management (CRM) surveys
Qual. 6 – Access and quality of data: project-level data made available to civil society organizations and the general public (focus groups, interviews, case studies)
Qual. 7 – Stakeholder involvement: role of civil society organizations, journalists and academics in issues of capacity/performance (Focus groups, interviews, case studies)
Qual. 8 – Confidence of beneficiaries in:
(a) Public sector institutions (b) Political representatives (Survey data, focus groups)
Qual. 9 – Quality of consultancy for:
(a) European Union funds administrators (b) Beneficiaries (Interviews, case studies)
Qual. 10 – Capacity and expertise of beneficiaries: (a) External assessment (evaluations) (b) Self-assessment (see model for Qual. 1)