REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

The report and the staff working document (accompanying the report) represent the results of the interim evaluation of the first half time implementation of the Justice Programme (from 2014 to mid-2017). The Justice Programme was designed to overcome the obstacles in the functioning of an effective European Area of Justice and to encourage national judicial systems to have faith in each other’s standards of fairness and justice.

Its general objective is to contribute to the further development of a European Area of Justice based on mutual recognition and mutual trust. The Programme is further broken down into four specific objectives, namely: 1. The support to judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters; 2.The promotion of judicial training; 3. The support to an effective access to justice for all; 4. The promotion of initiatives in the field of drug policy.

The evaluation carried out assessed the Programme's current progress towards its objectives. The findings will contribute to the last work programmes for 2019-2020 and will also inform the design of the Programme for the post-2020 funding period.

The interim evaluation illustrated that the Justice Programme is performing generally well at midterm with regard to its specific objectives. In particular, in terms of:

§Effectiveness

The analysis of indicators has shown that significant progress has been achieved on several fronts since some targets are close to being achieved and others have already been achieved. Therefore, the Justice Programme contributes positively to the general objective of the Programme through the progress under its specific objectives.

The Programme-specific indicators are adequate to monitor progress towards the objectives of the Programme, but sometimes they are difficult to measure or do not capture certain underlying dynamics.

Overall, the 2014-2020 Justice Programme is broadly perceived by applicants, beneficiaries and stakeholders as an improvement compared to the three predecessor programmes, both in terms of better policy targeting and better involvement of the right stakeholder groups. The merging of predecessor programmes has been particularly effective in the field of European judicial training since this has reduced the overlaps and enhanced the capacity of training providers.

Given the wide scope of the general objective of the Programme, a large number of external factors influenced its effectiveness. This, however, did not undermine its intervention logic and its operational flexibility: the annual work programmes can be easily adapted to emerging needs in the area of justice.

Finally, compared to the 2007-2013 period, the sustainability of projects (with their results and outputs) beyond the end of their life-cycle has become an increasingly important factor to consider in the evaluation process. However, projects focused on creating tools/outputs might have a more difficult sustainability landscape since, in these cases, sustainability depends on whether the organisations that implemented the projects can receive sufficient resources to maintain the tools once the EU funding is over.

§Relevance

According to all interviewed beneficiaries, the Programme is highly relevant to address the needs of selected target groups. Indeed, one of the key features of the Programme has been its ability to adapt and modify the priorities in light of emerging needs. This can be achieved thanks to the unique structure of the Justice Programme, as the Programme has been devised with broad specific objectives.

The specific objective concerning the initiatives in the field of drug policies is sometimes difficult to reconcile with other Programme priorities. In general, however, the needs identified at the time of the Programme’s adoption are still actual and relevant.

With respect to stakeholder needs, there is still scope to further increase the relevance of the Programme so as to ensure that priorities related to each specific objective are in line with the current key needs of the stakeholders. Moreover, the Programme could include additional target groups that are relevant to the achievement of its general objective. This is however currently not possible under the legal basis of the Justice Programme.

§Efficiency

The Justice Programme has been cost-effective relative to the actions it has funded so far. Indeed, the results of the evaluation have shown that the beneficiaries’ perception of the efficiency of the Programme is positive. This is true for the Programme as a whole, but, in particular, for the specific objective on judicial training.

A key achievement of the Programme, compared to its predecessors, has been the lower burden on beneficiaries in terms of time and financial resources. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement in terms of easing requirements and obligations to make the Programme even more efficient in its implementation (see more under “Scope for simplification”).

According to beneficiaries, the current instruments (action grants, operating grants and procurement activities) are adequate for the needs of the Programme and, therefore, using alternative and innovative funding instruments is not necessary. However, the efficiency of their implementation should continue to be improved, notably with regard to procurement actions.

§Coherence, Complementarity, Synergies