Improvements and risks of the proposed evaluation of Cohesion Policy in the 2021–27 period: A personal reflection to open a debate

This review offers an articulated argument and commentary on the evaluation section of the proposal for a new regulation on EU Cohesion Policy. The main arguments are based on the comparison of the new proposal with past experience and unresolved problems in previous programming periods. The new proposal includes some improvements which may reinforce future evaluation, but also some shortcomings that may weaken evaluations and reproduce past failures. There is time enough to discuss and modify the proposal of the regulation to avoid these risks. My ideas and suggestions focus on the necessity to continue and strengthen the commitment to improve the evaluation process and quality but do not imply a drastic change of the proposed framework