Results of task 1

AuthorNaldini, Andrea; Pompili, Marco; Peruccacci, Eleonora
Pages28-48
28
Section 3.Results ofTask1
This section illustratesthe findings ofthe analyses carried out in Task 1. This task
focused on nat ional obligations to evaluate in th e MSs and th eir evaluation systems for
aid schemes.
3.1.The analy sis of t he country profile s
This section illustrates the main findings based on a cross-analysis of the country
profiles. The 28 country profiles are available in annex A; each one is organised in 6
sections: 1) national rules for evaluation ofSt ate aidschemes; 2) nat ional authorities
responsible for the evaluation of State aid; 3) national guidelines to evaluate State aid
schemes; 4) the process of the national evaluation of State aid;5) strengths and
weaknesses of the evaluation process; 6) mapping of the ex-post evaluations ofSt ate
aidschem es im plem ent ed accor ding to national rules.
3.1.1.Prelim inar y r emarks
The analysis of Task 1 examines the obligation to evaluate State aidin each country.
Since t hese obligat ions ar e not always in force and, since t hey m ay differ fr om count ry
to co unt ry when th ey do e xist , t he cont ent s an d t he details of the cou ntr y p rof iles diff er
as some of t hem ar e m ore det aile d t han ot her s an d need less e xpla nat ions. I n addi tion,
difference in theavailability of information and degree of interaction with officials
responsible for State aid during th is diff icult period added to t hese differ ences. Despite
these difficulties all 28 coun try profiles are complete and answ er th e main quest ions of
the stu dy.
The country profile describes the main characteristics of the managementand
coordinat ion model ofSt ate aid. This adds t o ou r underst anding of t he development of
the nat iona l State aidsyst em and its management capacit y.
Interpreting the evaluation concept wasone of the mostdifficult steps in the cross-
analysis of the country profiles. By its very nature, the evaluation concept includes
different meanings depending on the type (ex-ante, ongoing, ex-post), the aims
(compliance with a specific set of rules, measurement of socio-economic effects,
accountability of public expenditure) and t he approach (impact evaluation, m onitoring
of results, achievement of initial objectives). Consequently, itis not surprising that in
legal acts and pract ical experiences of the 28 MSs the term “ evaluation” has different
meanings or is used for different purposes. These differences made it difficult to
compare national models and often required additional clarifications from national
exper ts.
To make the national approaches toState aidevaluation com parable, the definition of
evaluation of the EC methodology forState aidevaluation7has been used. This
definition can be summarised as animpact evaluation aimed to measure the socio-
economic effectiveness of the subsidy and its influence on market competition. The
impact evaluation does not necessarily have to be implemented after expiryof t he aid
scheme, but a consistentnum ber of investments supported by the scheme must be
implementedt o d ete rmine t heir effect s; in th is r espec t i t i s an ‘e x-pos t’ evalu ation. The
7European Commission, 2014, Common methodology forState aidevaluation, SWD(2014) 179
fin alBru ssels, 28. 5.20 14
29
use of this definition and the need to differentiate the impact evaluation fromother
types of evaluations has meant that we have had to adapt t he wording and the other
types of evaluations have been labelled with synonyms, such as ‘assessment’ or
‘analysis of compliance’, or qualified with specific attributes (such as, ex-ante or on-
going ).The pur pose of th e an alysi s ha s alw ay s bee n t o co mp are the nat ion al e valu at ion
models with the EC evaluation requirements and atthe same time to take into
consideration the differences an d complex ity of each national cont ext .
From a theoret ical po int of view, th is ap proa ch m ay be d ebat able, b ecause m any ot her
definitions of evaluation are possible and valid, butit is justified by the aims of the
study. This definition, in fact , m akes it possible t o clearly identify count ries which hav e
ob liga tio ns anda dm ini str ati ve arr ang em ent s a ime d a t imp lem ent in g e valu at ions sim il ar
to t hose required by the GBER and EC g uidelines.
3.1.2.Obligations to ev aluate
The obligation to evaluateState aidmeasures is the first element examined in the
country profiles. This obligation differentiat es betw een countries t hat are used t o, and
have the structuresfor evaluat ing, State aid schemes from those countries which are
not, and wher e such im plem entation would require a specific effort.
According to our analysis,19 countries have no general obligation to carry out impact
evaluations of p ublic policies.
In two countries (UK, IE) the obligation to evaluate stems from administrative rules
aim ed at an ef ficien t use of p ublic resources; in the ot her six count ries (AT, DE, FR, FI ,
NL, SE) the obligation is stipulated by law, but it always derives from the principle of
prom oting efficient and effective managem ent of public resources. Finally , in Denm ark
the obligation is defined on a case by casebasist hroug h ev aluati on clauses inclu ded in
the policy act s or polit ical agr eement s betw een th e m ain par ties.
In some cases,countries with no obligation to carry outimpact evaluationh ave
arran gement s for im plem enting differ ent k inds of assessments; for instance, in Poland
t here is an obli gat ion to car ry out e x-an te eval uat ionsor Regu lat ory I mp act asse ssme nt
of new policies.
The obligation to implement impact evaluation of State aidis governed by the same
rules as the evaluation of other public policies; consequently, theabove division
bet ween coun tries wit h and with out obligat ion still stan ds. The only exception is Spa in,
wh ich does not hav e a general ob ligation to evaluat e but has recen tly de fine d a specif ic
model for the monitoring and assessment of subsidies; the obligation to follow this
control system requires the assessment of the final achievements of the subsidies but
does n ot exp licit ly req uire an im pact evalua tion as defined in th e EC guidelines.
The MSs with no obligat ion to evaluat e State aiddiffer from each other and their rules
frequentlyrequire an ex-ante evaluat ion or a com pliance assessment . However, these
requirementsappearto be more directed towards checking the compliance with EU
ru les and coordinating int ernal proposals rather than being a prev entive assessm ent of
th e socio-eco nomic effects or creating a baseline for future im pact evaluations.

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