5. Evaluation Framework
Evaluation is intended to promote accountability to TE actors and promote learning by providing lessons about what works and why. Furthermore, it contributes to the reinforcement of the dialogue among TE actors and the dissemination of the results achieved to a broad community.
Beyond listing outputs and describing changes, evaluations should investigate any links between the observed changes and the TEIs’ intervention. Evaluations may assess.
the performance of the TE approach by using OECD DAC criteria, such as relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact. The latter acquiring particular importance in the context of the transformative value of TEIs. Other criteria such as coordination, continuity, criteria foreseen in the Better Regulation (for example, the EU added value) or any specific criteria deemed as relevant may also be included.
Evaluations should be based on the information generated by the monitoring arrangements and indicators established and framed by the Joint Intervention Logic, to the extent possible.
The governance of the TEIs will be responsible for identifying the need, the how and the when concerning evaluations. It will also be responsible for the process related to the response to the recommendations of the evaluation. The Commission services will support the TEI members on evaluation options and especially on cross cutting issues such as the quality of the evaluations. In case a MS opts for evaluating only its component or contribution to a given TEI, such support will be provided by the relevant MS services.
The EU and MS will evaluate their contributions to TEIs in line with their legal obligations and regulatory requirements. The EU and MS may carry out retrospective and/ or mid-term evaluations. Strategic or meta evaluations with a larger geographic or thematic scope (i.e. targeting a specific strategic objective or institutional aspects) may be also foreseen. The EU is undertaking strategic evaluations and will continue to opt for including strategic evaluations on TEI or with a TEI component in its strategic evaluation work programmes.
In addition, joint evaluations are possible. Joint evaluations are recommended for addressing the full range of TEI interventions/components and respective impacts, creating synergies, avoiding duplications and minimising costs. TEI members are invited to consider joint evaluations when discussing the evaluation modalities. It is recommended that discussing the evaluation modalities should start from the onset of the planning phase in order to maximise harmonisation and cross-fertilisation among the TEIs. Provisions on budgeting of the evaluations should be included from the onset too.
All MS may prioritise the TEIs in their respective evaluation plans, which can be the basis of discussions in the governance of the TEIs, the body responsible for making decisions on evaluations.