Ex-post evaluation of the European Fisheries Fund (2007-2013)

The European Fisheries Fund (EFF) has been delivered through a series of measures and actions that were established and defined in Regulations (EC) No 1198/2006 and (EC) No 498/2007. The main objective of the study was to perform an ex-post evaluation of the EFF Regulation. This required an examination of the degree of utilisation of resources, the effectiveness and efficiency of EU Member State Operational Programmes (OPs), including their impact in relation to the objectives set out for the funding under Article 4 and the guiding principles set out under Article 19. In addition, the ex-post evaluation identified factors that contributed to the success and failures of the implementation of OPs, including from the point of view of sustainability and best practice. 

These measures/actions can were organised in the following six spending categories: 

1. Fisheries (including small scale and inland);
2. Aquaculture;
3. Processing;
4. Common Interest;
5. Community Development; and,
6. Technical Assistance. 

The evaluation was primarily organised along these spending categories and did not correspond exactly to the priority axes laid out in the EFF Regulation. Rather, it corresponded to the way the EFF funds were being used, which were aligned with the current EMFF Regulation (and its’ Union Priorities). In that respect, the structure of the evaluation facilitated drawing out conclusions and recommendations that are of immediate relevance for the programming period 2014-2020 as well as for the preparation of the post-2020 period. 

The evaluation addressed three complementary dimensions of the design and implementation of the EFF, by providing: 

• A detailed description of the financial implementation by measure/action by Member State of the EFF as well as the data collected by Member State for the EFF;
• Answers to evaluation questions on the results and impacts that can be identified, broken down by categories of spending; and
• Answers to evaluation questions on key components of the intervention logic based on the five compulsory evaluation criteria: efficiency; effectiveness; relevance; coherence; and, European added value. In addition, evaluation questions on sustainability were included.