A new approach to policy evaluation in the European Union
A new approach to policy evaluation in the European Union

Summary/Abstract: The significant role of the European Union in diffusion of evaluation in Europe is widely acknowledged (Stern, 2009). Although evaluation has a long-standing tradition in the EU, and in particular within the European Commission, in recent years one can observe the process of its expansion, diversification and institutionalisation.The aim of the paper is to explore the new developments in evaluation policy in the EU, which can be characterised, among others, by strengthening the links between ex ante and ex post impact evaluations and thus closing the policy cycle, where ex post evaluation feeds into ex ante assessment of new public actions. Hence, the problem of utilisation of evaluation findings is discussed. The scope of evaluation performed at the EU level has also been extended from expenditure to regulatory instruments. Moreover, there has been a shift from evaluating merely projects and programmes to evaluating policies and aggregated activities. To this end, a literature and documentary review on evaluation theory and practice have been conducted, as well as the analysis of the normative provisions that are applied to guide the practice of evaluation in the EU.

• Details
• Contents