The adopted Guidelines do not, however, provide sufficient guidance with respect to external communication of evaluation results. It was therefore agreed to set up a working group to discuss and elaborate a set of guidelines to cover the needs in this area. They were communicated to the Network of Evaluators on the 8 th December 1999. The responsibility to provide information on the Commission's policies and programmes stems from the Commission's firm commitment to accountability and transparency . Adequate information is essential in order that the stakeholders and beneficiaries of the EU programmes may understand, respond to and influence the development and implementation of EU policies and programmes.
Communication is more than simply disseminating or receiving information.
It also concerns the manner in which that information is exchanged. The quality of the communication has an impact on the usefulness of the information exchanged as well as on the perception by stakeholders and beneficiaries of the Commission's fulfilment of its commitment to accountability and transparency. External communication of evaluation information is essential for accountability for the results achieved by the Commission in the implementation of the EU policies, programmes and actions. The objective of the present update of the guidelines is to ensure the effective management of EU external communication with regard to the evaluation results of its policies, programmes and activities . These new guidelines, set out in Section D , affirm the value the Commission places on transparency and openness.