Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Report on the evaluation of the "active European citizenship" programme 2004-2006
Date: 2007-12-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU action, European citizenship, action programme, project evaluation, promotion of the European idea

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 17.12.2007 
COM(2007) 819 final 

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

Report on the evaluation of the "Active European Citizenship" Programme 2004-2006 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

1.1. 

1.2. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

2.4. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

4. 

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 3 

The Programme............................................................................................................ 3 

Ex-post evaluation........................................................................................................ 4 

MAIN EVALUATOR’S FINDINGS .......................................................................... 5 

The programming and relevance.................................................................................. 5 

Overall programme effectiveness and impact.............................................................. 5 

Overall programme efficiency ..................................................................................... 7 

Added value and exploitation of the results................................................................. 7 

FOLLOW-UP OF RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................... 8 

Strengthening citizens' involvement ............................................................................ 8 

Strengthening coherence, encouraging partnerships and enhancing synergies ........... 8 

Improving links to the national level ........................................................................... 9 

Enhancing programme management............................................................................ 9 

CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................ 11 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This document presents the main findings and recommendations of the external ex-post 
evaluation  of  the  'Active  European  Citizenship'  programme  for  the  period  2004-20061, 
together  with  the  Commission's  reactions  and  conclusions  in  relation  to  these 
recommendations.  

1.1. 

The Programme 

The  Community  action  programme  to  promote  active  European  citizenship  (civic 
participation)  was  established  by  the  Council  in  January  2004.  The  objectives  of  the 
programme were: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

To reinforce open dialogue with civil society and intensify links between citizens 
of different countries. 

To  promote  and  disseminate  the  values  and  objectives  of  the  European  Union 
(EU). 

To bring the citizens closer to the EU and its institutions and to encourage them to 
engage more frequently with the institutions. 

To involve citizens closely in reflection and discussion on the construction of the 
EU. 

To intensify links and exchanges between citizens from countries participating in 
the programme, including by way of town twinning. 

To  stimulate  initiatives  by  the  bodies  engaged  in  the  promotion  of  active  and 
participatory citizenship.  

The programme had a budget of € 72 million and a specific aim to: 

•  Provide support in the form of operating grants to organisations in the field of active 
European  citizenship  (organisations  promoting  European  ideas  and  debate  and 
organisations and "think tanks" promoting European values and objectives). 

•  Support  projects 

(non-governmental 
initiated  by  civil  society  organizations 
organisations, associations and federations of European interest or cross-industry trade 
unions). 

•  Support town twinning actions.  

Intended outputs of the programme included: 

1  Council  Decision  No  2004/100/EC  of  26  January  2004  for  the  period  from  1  January  2004  to  31 

December 2006, OJ L 30 page 6 of 4/02/2004. 

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•  Programmes  of  activities  run  by  organisations  supported  by  operating  grants, 
including  meetings,  dialogue  with  EU  institutions,  position  papers,  networking, 
exchange of good practice and awareness raising. 

•  Meetings,  education  and  training  programmes  and  tools,  publications,  dissemination 

activities organised by civil society organisations. 

•  Meetings  between  citizens,  conferences,  information  campaigns  and  training  events 

for twinning officers. 

A  characteristic  feature  of  the  programme  was  the  large  number  of  small  projects 
supported:  during  the  entire  programme  period  (2004-2006)  grants  were  provided  to 
4062  town  twinning  events  and  to  343  projects  initiated  by  civil  society  organisations 
and  40  operating  grants  to  think-tanks  and  civil  society  organisations.  The  programme 
thus  supported  a  large  number  of  events  and  other  actions  in  which  citizens  from 
different  European  countries  participated  directly.  For  a  centrally  managed  programme 
this  structure  presented  a  major  administrative  challenge.  The  departments  responsible 
handled more than 7000 grant applications and 4500 grant agreements. 

The programme covered the 25 EU Member States. In addition, Bulgaria and Romania 
joined  the  programme  during  2005.  Participation  by  organisations  based  in  the  new 
Member States or in the candidate countries increased during the programme period. As 
an  example:  in  the  case  of  town  twinning,  the  proportion  of  events  organised  in  these 
countries went up from 17% in 2004 to 24% in 2006. 

1.2. 

Ex-post evaluation 

The ex-post evaluation was carried out by a firm of consultants2.  The  overall  aims  and 
objectives of the evaluation were: 

(1) 

(2) 

To evaluate the impact of the activities carried out under the Community action 
programme to promote active European citizenship (civic participation) and ; 

To  learn  lessons  for  the  implementation  of  the  'Europe  for  Citizens'  programme 
(2007-2013) 

The evaluation focused on the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the programme 
and  its  coherence  with  other  initiatives  supporting  the  development  of  active  European 
citizenship.  

The evaluation was carried out during 2006 and was based on data3 from 2004 and 2005. 

The  European  Commission  had  made  its  proposal  for  a  new  'Europe  for  Citizens' 
programme in 2005, based on an extensive consultation with stakeholders. Already this 
consultation  revealed  many  findings  which  have  since  been  confirmed  in  the  ex-post 
evaluation. Therefore, many of the recommendations of this evaluation have already been 

2 ECOTEC 
3 31 operating grants, 250 civil society projects and 2,800 town-twinning events. 

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integrated  into  the  new  programme.  However,  a  number  of  the  external  evaluation's 
conclusions are still relevant for the implementation of the new programme.4 

2. 

MAIN EVALUATOR’S FINDINGS 

2.1. 

The programming and relevance 

The external evaluation confirmed that there is a strong need for Community intervention 
in  the  area  of  the  active  European  citizenship',  and  that  the  programme  provided  a 
relevant answer to this need. The evaluator also confirmed that the bringing together of 
previously separate actions into one programme had proved its worth.  

According to the evaluator, the objectives and activities of the programme were generally 
consistent  with  its  overall  mission  and  with  the  policy  context.  The  programme  had  a 
wide range of target groups which, according to the evaluator, were clearly defined.  

The evaluator suggests that there needs to be a better fit between the modest programme 
budget  and  the  breath  of  its  stated  aims;  whilst  the  remit  of  the  programme  was 
challenging and very wide, its resources – by comparison - were limited. This, according 
to the evaluator, could create the risk of a gulf between the programme's aims and what it 
could actually deliver.  

2.2. 

Overall programme effectiveness and impact 

As  regards  effectiveness,  where  the  programme  was  most  successful  was  in  terms  of 
intensifying  links  and  exchanges  between  citizens  from  different  countries:  75%  of 
respondents  reported  achieving  this  particular  objective  to  a  large  extent.  45%  of 
respondents  felt  that  the  programme  had  achieved  the  objective  of  promoting  and 
disseminating EU values to a large extent. Lastly, only 31% of respondents felt that the 
programme was able to bring citizens closer to the EU.  

These  findings  indicate  that  the  programme  was  stronger  in  its  horizontal  mission,  i.e. 
intensifying  links  between  EU  citizens,  civil  society  organizations  and  municipalities 
than in its vertical dimension, i.e. bringing citizens closer to the EU. The latter therefore 
continues  to  be  a  particularly  important  challenge  for  the  new  "Europe  for  Citizens" 
programme. 

In the evaluator's opinion the main results of the programme activities included tangible 
products  (such  as  publications),  methodological  learning,  experiences  and  knowledge, 
policy lessons and greater European cooperation and awareness-raising about citizenship 
issues  and  other  cultures.  The  programme  also  achieved  important  results  in  terms  of 
capacity building for its beneficiaries. 

The impact of the Programme can be summarized in the following four categories: 

a) EU citizens better informed about the activities of the EU. 

4The 

full 

report  of 

the  external  evaluation 

is  available  on 

the 

following 

internet  site: 

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/index_en.htm#civilsocietyHeader 

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•  Greater interest in and better understanding of EU debates and policies by the 
participants  -  Some  organisations  reported  that  the  interest  of  the  project 
participants in the European projects has increased. 

•  Better access to EU institutions by individual citizens.  

b) Strengthened civil society organisations at EU and national level 

•  Networking  -  Many  organisations  reported  that,  as  a  result  of  their  project, 
they  had  created  a  new  network  or  seen  a  significant  increase  in  the 
membership of their existing network. 

•  Improved  functioning  of  the  organisations  -  In  the  area  of  civil  society 
projects,  EU  funding  very  often  attracted  match  funding  from  other 
organisations, both private and public.  

•  Greater  interest  in  European  issues,  enhanced  sustainability  of  European 
activities and increased use of other EU sources of funding - Almost half of 
the organisations taking part in the programme reported that, owing to their 
involvement in this programme, their interest in getting involved in more EU 
activities had increased. 

•  Improvement  in  the  delivery  activities  of  the  organisation  in  the  field  of 
citizenship - Operating grants were seen as an important contribution to the 
organisations'  capacity  to  work  and  deliver  in  the  area  of  active  European 
citizenship. 

•  Empowerment  -  Many  organisations  reported  that  receiving  an  EU  grant 
acted  as  a  mark  of  recognition  and  therefore  gave  credibility  to  the  project 
activities at local level. 

c)  Increased  interaction  and  stronger  international  networks  between 
twinned towns. 

•  Increased level of European activities. 

•  Networks  of  twin  towns  developed  and  strengthened  as  a  result  of  the 
programme  –  A  number  of  local  authorities  have  created  a  new  network  or 
consolidated  and  expanded  their  existing  network,  and  an  increasing 
proportion  of  town  twinning  events  have  been  organised  on  a  multilateral 
basis. 

d)  Increased  use  of  inputs  from  civil  society  organisations  in  EU  policy-
making. 

•  Contribution to policy debate and lawmaking - Some of the organisations that 
were supported proved to be important sources of expertise and information 
for policy-makers at national and European level. In several cases their work 
has directly contributed to policy/legislative changes in national or European 
Framework. 

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An  example  of  policy  change  or  a  policy  impact is the publication  of the report  on the 
free  movement  of  workers  in  the  EU  by  ECAS,  which  subsequently  became  one  of  the 
sources of the European Commission's work in this area. A similar impact was achieved 
by other operating grant organisations, such as Social Platform, during the preparation 
of the Services directive, Free Trials Abroad or the Association of Councils of State and 
Supreme  Administrative  Jurisdictions  of  the  European  Union,  which  has  informed  the 
change of Belgian legislation on refugees5. 

The evaluation thus provides evidence of the impact of the programme in line with the 
programme's objectives.  

2.3. 

Overall programme efficiency 

In terms of efficiency, the evaluation shows that the beneficiaries were satisfied overall 
with the management of the programme by the European Commission. For example, 74 
% of respondents found the clarity of documents, such as application forms, was good. 
Beneficiaries  also  stressed  that  they  had  good  direct  communication  with  the 
Commission officials. However, the evaluator pointed to the relatively high turnover of 
staff  among  the  Commission  officials  responsible  for  projects/grants  administration, 
which beneficiaries saw as a problem.  

Among the main points for improvement in the programme management, the evaluation 
mentioned delays in payments and a relative lack of feedback on the Commission's level 
of  satisfaction  with  the  quality  of  outputs  produced,  as  well  as  a  need  for  more 
information,  support  in  finding  partners,  and  advice  and  guidance  on  the  programme 
activities. 

2.4. 

Added value and exploitation of the results 

The  added  value  of  the  programme  consisted  mainly  in  strengthening  the  ‘European’ 
dimension of the funded activities and the possibility for direct involvement of European 
citizens,  regardless  of  their  background.  Some  80%  of  the  beneficiaries  approached 
reported  that  they  would  not  have  been  able  to  obtain  financing  for  their  activities 
elsewhere.  

According to the evaluator, the 'Active European Citizenship' programme could have had 
more  potential  for  both  dissemination  and  exploitation  of  the  results,  especially  at  EU 
level. Information on project results was disseminated mainly at local level, with only a 
minority  of  organizations  undertaking  dissemination  activities  at  the  European  level. 
Similarly,  the  dissemination  of  results  between  projects  was  relatively  limited  – 
according to the evaluator, only a minority of respondents were informed of the results of 
other projects. 

The evaluation report includes seven examples of best practice. These case studies also 
provide good examples of dissemination efforts. For example, the Italian town twinning 
project  in  Specchia  had  nation-wide  visibility  and  a  spill-over  effect  on  the  local 

5 More detailed information about the case studies can be found in Annex 7 of the Final evaluation report 
at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/index_en.htm#civilsocietyHeader 

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economy  as  well  as  on  public  administration.  The  ECAS  case  is  a  good  example  of 
Europe-wide media coverage for some specific activities.6 

3. 

FOLLOW-UP OF RECOMMENDATIONS  

This part of the text sets out the recommendations in four major thematic areas, together 
with the actions that the European Commission has implemented or intends to implement 
in order to respond to them. 

3.1. 

Strengthening citizens' involvement  

It  was  considered  important  to  involve  citizens  and  their  organizations  directly  when 
designing  the  aims,  objectives  and  actions  of  the  new  programme.  Furthermore,  new 
measures needed to be developed to bring citizens closer to the EU. 

Before  the  adoption  of  the  'Europe  for  Citizens'  programme,  a  number  of  consultations 
were  held  with  major  stakeholders  for  them  to  provide  feedback  on  the  content, 
objectives and implementation of the 'Europe for Citizens' programme. This practice will 
continue  throughout  the  entire  programme  period  in  the  form  of  a  structured  dialogue 
with  networks  of  European  umbrella  organizations  from  different  strands  of  the 
programme. 

In  addition,  direct  involvement  of  citizens  in  implementing  the  activities  of  the 
programme is a key feature of Action 1 of the new 'Europe for Citizens' programme.  

New types of activities, such as citizens' panels, have been integrated in the new 'Europe 
for Citizens' programme using new measures. These activities are currently being tested 
through pilot projects. Based on the analysis of the pilot projects, the new measures will 
be mainstreamed into the 'Europe for Citizens' programme as of 2008.  

Furthermore, the new programme includes high-visibility events to which representatives 
of  local  authorities,  civil  society  and  European  citizens  will  be  invited,  to  voice  their 
opinion on the future course of European integration and the role of the citizens in this 
process.  

3.2. 

Strengthening  coherence,  encouraging  partnerships  and  enhancing 
synergies  

The challenge of strengthening the internal coherence of the programme was recognized 
by  the  European  Commission.  The  new  programme  reflects  this  challenge  and,  as  a 
consequence,  the  programme  objectives  and  priorities  contribute  to  stronger  coherence 
between the various actions of the new programme. 

In  the  coming  programming  period,  strong  emphasis  will  be  put  on  partnerships  and 
cross-sectoral  perspectives  bringing  together  civil  society,  policy-makers  and  business, 

6 More information in Annex 7 of the Final evaluation report at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/index_en.htm#civilsocietyHeader 

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which  in  turn  will  promote  synergies  and  networking  between  the  various  strands  of 
activities and different types of organisations funded through the programme. One of the 
priorities  of  the  new  Europe  for  Citizens  programme  is  therefore  to  encourage  cross-
sectoral partnerships and  promote  projects  which are based on cooperation by different 
actors, including civil society organizations, local authorities, think-tanks, NGOs, etc. 

Developing closer ties between citizens from the Member States that joined in 2004 and 
those  Member  States  that  were  already  part  of  the  EU  on  30  April  2004  is  one  of  the 
specific  objectives  of  the  new  programme,  and  partnership  between  organisations  from 
old  and  new  Member  States  is  strongly  encouraged.  This  is  also  reflected  in  the  award 
criteria used for all actions of the programme.  

As far as synergy with other Community action programmes is concerned, the European 
Commission believes that the new generation of programmes for 2007-2013 has taken a 
step  forward  in  this  area.  There  is  a  need  to  develop  synergy  in  the  programme 
implementation and this will be done over the life of the programmes. The Commission 
is  currently  developing  a  new  horizontal  approach  for  dissemination  of  results  in  the 
fields of education, culture, youth and citizenship. This will build new bridges between 
the various relevant programmes. 

3.3. 

Improving links to the national level 

Links with national programmes and initiatives in the area of active citizenship should be 
fostered  through  improving  contacts  with  national  authorities  responsible  for  civic 
participation. The European Commission agrees that there is a real need to strengthen the 
link  between  the  development  of  active  European  citizenship  at  both  European  and 
national  levels.  Linking  the  two  will  have  a  positive  effect  on  the  sense  of  national 
ownership of the activities in the area of active European citizenship. 

The  act  which  formed  the  basis  of  the  'Europe  for  Citizens'  programme  established  a 
Programme Committee to assist the European Commission in the implementation. This 
means  in  effect  that  the  European  Commission  will  have  an  opportunity  for  a  dialogue 
with  the  Member  States  on  the  issues  that  are  relevant  to  the  programme.  This  has 
already attracted closer attention from the Member States to the issues of active European 
citizenship,  which  may  well  also  foster  closer  links  between  the  new  programme  and 
national initiatives in this area. 

Additionally,  many  Member  States  are  in  the  process  of  establishing  coordination  and 
support  structures  for  the  'Europe  of  Citizens'  programme.  Apart  from  their  role  of 
information  and  dissemination,  these  structures  can  also  provide  feedback  to  the 
European Commission on the programme's implementation and on national programmes, 
initiatives and policies in the area of active European citizenship.  

3.4. 

Enhancing programme management  

Recommendations to enhance programme management are: 

a) Finance and administration 

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•  faster disbursement of funds to beneficiaries and simplification of financial reporting 

procedures; 

•  establishing a personalized point of continuous support at the European Commission 

or the Executive Agency for projects throughout their lifetime;  

•  providing  additional  guidance  in  relation  to  the  submission  of  applications  and 

eligibility criteria; 

•  greater stability of staff in the area of grant management . 

b) Monitoring and evaluation 

•  on site monitoring visits in order to enhance monitoring arrangements; 

•  development  of  benchmarks  and  indicators  against  which  to  measure  the  success  of 

projects and the programme as a whole; 

•  guidance to projects concerning the data to be collected in individual evaluations; 

c) Added value, dissemination and partner search 

•  structuring of the programme activities and providing support to larger projects with 

more visibility; 

•  encouraging the external use of results (for instance, by recognizing dissemination and 

exploitation plans as a selection criterion); 

•  enhancing dissemination of the results of the projects through the creation of an online 

repository and the production of case studies and good practice guides;  

•  support for "partner matching"; 

•  creating a programme logo requiring the projects to include visibility actions through 

the use of media. 

The European Commission finds these recommendations useful and has already made a 
number of arrangements to improve programme management.  

The establishment of the Executive Agency contributes significantly to strengthening the 
programme  management.  It  enables  more  stable  development  of  the  grant  management 
systems  and  provides  an  opportunity  to  reduce  staff  turnover.  Recently  introduced 
simplifications,  such  as  the  extensive  use  of  flat  rate  system  and  on-line  tools,  are 
consistent  with  the  recommendations  in  this  area.  The  Commission  has  produced  a 
comprehensive  programme  grid  which  provides  potential  beneficiaries  with  a  high 
degree of predictability and stability. The use of multi-annual partnerships also represents 
an important simplification and improvement for the beneficiaries. 

Within the new programme period, the support available for the beneficiaries has already 
been strengthened and continues to be developed, for example, through the de-centralized 

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support and information structures. The new programme also includes new features like 
multi-annuality, which will better structure the activities. This generates greater visibility 
for the activities and their results and it also enables the Commission to develop closer 
partnership  relations  with  the  beneficiary  organizations.  The  Commission  has  also 
developed a strategy and a practical action plan for the exploitation and dissemination of 
the  results.  This  includes  tangible  measures  such  as  on-line  tools  to  disseminate  best 
practices and actual results of projects to a wide range of stakeholders. Finally, a more 
structured  monitoring  system  is  being  developed,  which  includes  impact  assessment 
based on surveys carried out at the level of those directly participating. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The evaluation confirms the importance of the 'Active European Citizenship' Programme 
in  terms  of  promoting  civic  participation  and  encouraging  debate  on  shared  values  in 
Europe.  The  programme  has  given  many  European  citizens  and  their  organizations  an 
opportunity to participate in the process of building Europe, to express their opinions and 
to  feed  into  the  European  political  process.  It  has  connected  people  and  local 
communities  in  different  countries.  It  therefore  follows  that  Community  support  for 
promotion of active European citizenship in the EU needs to continue, and that adequate 
resources should be made available for this purpose. 

The  evaluation  has  also  pointed  out  some  weaknesses  in  the  past  programme  and 
highlighted  significant  potential  for  further  development.  There  is  therefore  room  to 
strengthen the innovation and structuring measures in order to increase the impact of the 
new  'Europe  for  Citizens'  programme,  in  terms  of  boosting  citizens'  involvement, 
developing  coherence  and  synergies,  improving  links  to  the  national  level  and  further 
enhancing programme management. 

During the preparation of the new programme and when designing its implementation, the 
Commission  entered  into  a  more  structured  dialogue  and  partnership  with  key 
organizations  in  the  area  of  active  European  citizenship.  The  evaluation  has  confirmed 
that this kind of dialogue is a key element in strengthening the impact of the programme, 
particularly  in  terms  of  drawing  policy  conclusions  and  learning  lessons  from  the 
programme. The European Commission will therefore continue to develop and strengthen 
this dialogue. 

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