This 4-morning online course will focus on the new project appraisal requirements for EU co-financed investment projects and the new Economic Appraisal Vademecum of DG REGIO. It will also see how this compares to the ongoing Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) requirements for the Connecting Europe Facility.
In the new draft Common Provisions Regulation for Cohesion Policy, Major Projects are replaced by Operations of Strategic Importance, while large investment projects are no longer subject to an EU centralised approval mechanism. Nor is there an explicit mention of using Cost-Benefit Analysis. However, significant obligations regarding the selection of operations will remain in force, with a major shift of responsibilities from the EU to Member States.
At the national level, establishing and enforcing the methodology and criteria for the selection of operations will continue to be part of the remit of the Managing Authority and the Monitoring Committee.
Notably, Article 67 of the draft Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) indicates that in selecting operations the Managing Authority shall:
- ensure that selected operations present the best relationship between the amount of support, the activities undertaken and the achievement of objectives;
- verify that the beneficiary has the necessary financial resources and mechanisms to cover operation and maintenance costs.
The former requirement means that the cost-benefit ratio of a project should be optimised; the latter demands an analysis of the long-term sustainability of the project. Article 67 therefore indicates that rigorous project appraisal techniques must be applied in project selection, and that CBA should still be used for the selection of larger projects.
For the next programming period 2021–2027, a new Economic Appraisal VADEMECUM will be provided by the EC, to support Member States. It will highlight good practices in project appraisal, offering a guide to simplified CBA, and other appraisal techniques, such as cost-effectiveness tests and multi-criteria analyses.
In this online course, experts from the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, JASPERS and INEA (the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency) will discuss:
- best practice in using CBA for project appraisal
- best practice from Major Projects
- the new DG REGIO requirements
- alternative project appraisal techniques; project quality standards, 2021-2027
- Operations of Strategic Importance (OSI)
- Using CBA under the Connecting Europe Facility
Who will benefit most?
- Beneficiaries eligible for Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund, CEF and IPA III, Managing authorities, intermediate bodies, auditors and consulting companies;
- Other actors involved in EU funding programmes and projects.
