EIBURS study on administrative capacity-building and EU Cohesion policy

The main research questions of the three-year study are: what explains the differences in administrative capacity for implementing Cohesion policy across the EU? and how can effective administrative capacity for Cohesion policy be built and sustained?

 Specific research questions to be investigated through the research are as follows:

• What constitutes ‘administrative capacity’ for managing and implementing Cohesion policy? How can it be defined and measured? How relevant are different measures? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each indicator used for ranking administrative capacity?

• How does administrative capacity vary across the EU? To what extent is this explained by differences in context, structural, resources, systems or processes? What is the relationship between these capacity factors? What are the determinants of administrative capacity e,g. factors like culture, openness, partnership, learning, sanctions/reward systems?

• To what extent do differences in administrative capacity reflect the QoG more generally of the country (and region) concerned? Does regional administrative capacity matter more than national capacity?  What specific capacity factors explain differences between national/regional rankings of QoG and their administrative capacity for implementing Cohesion policy?

• What builds administrative capacity and strong institutions for managing Cohesion policy effectively?  What capacity structuring and development factors make a difference? What influence do external factors – and specifically networks with other programmes – play in improving administrative capacity?

• What are the policy implications?  How could Cohesion policy enhance administrative capacity?  To what extent do the results have implications for the design of programmes (e.g.  size, architecture, priorities etc), the implementation arrangements (e.g. implementing bodies, type of Beneficiaries?) or the administrative processes put in place? What are the implications for implementation of Cohesion policy in the second half of the 2014-20 period? What are the implications for the post-2020 regulatory framework (e.g. conditionalities, requirements for institutional capacity-building etc)

You may find more information on the project website.