From Conditionality to Europeanization in Central and Eastern Europe: Administrative Performance and Capacity in Cohesion Policy

Bachtler, John; Méndez, Carlos; Oraže, H

doi:10.1080/09654313.2013.772744

Cited by 81 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The countries of which they are part have considerable experience in implementation of CP, which has been crucial for the establishment and evolution of their regional development policies and have contributed to institutional changes and policy learning (e.g. Bachtler, Mendez, & Oraže, 2013a;Dąbrowski, 2008). In the 2007-2013 perspective, Spain and Poland have been allocated, respectively 10% and 19% of the total EU Structural Funds envelope (Álvarez-Martínez, 2014).…”

Section: Sociological Perspective On Policy Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Out of those, two comparable regions that were early adopters of JESSICA were selected for this study: Wielkopolskie in Poland and Andalusia in Spain (see Figure 2). Both were among JESSICA pioneers (alongside, for instance Greater London, where London Green Fund was set up), signing funding agreements to establish HFs in Spring 2009 and starting implementation phase in Autumn 2010 and Spring 2011, respectively (Bachtler, Mendez, & Oraže, 2013b).…”

Section: Sociological Perspective On Policy Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘Doing more with less’ or ‘doing less with less’? Assessing EU cohesion policy’s financial instruments for urban development

Dąbrowski

2015

Regional Studies, Regional Science

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In the context of a severe economic crisis and austerity, new ideas were put forward to reform cohesion policy to enhance its effectiveness and the return on investment. Among them, financial engineering instruments, such as JESSICA, expected to offer a means to 'do more with less' in this difficult budgetary context. In the case of such instruments, EU funds are not offered as grants co-financing investment projects, but rather are used to provide repayable assistance to projects, a form of support. Such revolving funds approach is in stark contrast with the grant-based assistance typically offered as part of EU cohesion policy and was expected to increase the sustainability and effectiveness of interventions. But does it fulfil those expectations? This paper examines JESSICA through the conceptual lens of policy instruments literature. It verifies whether JESSICA is actually fit for its purpose of supporting sustainable urban development. It also gauges the impacts of instrument on the behaviour of the actors involved in its implementation at the sub-national level. The findings indicate that JESSICA is a flawed and overly complex instrument that instead of doing 'more with less' only allows for achieving 'less with less'. However, it still exerts a positive influence on the sub-national authorities involved by promoting cross-sectoral interactions and facilitating learning. It also promotes a change in the approach to EU cohesion policy and public investment more generally, putting more emphasis on economic viability of investment.

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Section: Sociological Perspective On Policy Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sociological Perspective On Policy Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Doing more with less’ or ‘doing less with less’? Assessing EU cohesion policy’s financial instruments for urban development

Dąbrowski

2015

Regional Studies, Regional Science

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“…While the role of administrative capacity in Cohesion policy has received increased attention in recent years (European Commission, ), studies have examined the impact of capacity on economic performance (Becker et al ., 2011; Rodriguez‐Pose and Garcilazo, ) and financial absorption (Tosun, ) rather than compliance. Nor has the financial dimension of compliance been the primary focus of qualitative case studies of administrative implementation processes (Milio, ; Bachtler et al ., ). Nevertheless, these studies do find a positive link between capacity and implementation performance.…”

Section: Compliance Theory and Expectations For Cohesion Policymentioning

confidence: 97%

Financial Compliance in the European Union: A Cross‐National Assessment of Financial Correction Patterns and Causes in Cohesion Policy

Méndez

Bachtler

2016

J of Common Market Studies

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EU compliance scholarship has expanded rapidly over the last decade but has neglected the financial dimension of compliance in terms of Member States' conformity with EU financial rules on the regularity and legality of EU spending. This article makes the case for a multi-dimensional approach to compliance research and provides the first cross-national assessment of financial compliance in EU Cohesion policy, employing quantitative and qualitative methods. To account for cross-national variations in the application of financial corrections for non-compliant spending, several factors are explored, focusing on regional autonomy, administrative capacity and goodness-of-fit. The quantitative analysis finds strong support for the impact of administrative capacity on cross-national compliance patterns and some evidence for the role of goodness-of-fit. Contrary to expectations, regional autonomy is not associated with compliance in this critical case of EU multi-level governance. Qualitative analysis reinforces these findings while revealing additional factors of relevance.

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“…It also shows that there are different ways to achieve comparable levels of well-being. The model followed by the West can provide widespread longevity and variable life satisfaction, but it does so only at a vast and ultimately counter-productive cost in terms of resource consumption [7].…”

Section: Comparative Assessment Of Eu Structural Funds Support Immentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Use of European Union Structural Funds for Sustainable Development in Member States

Dapkus¹,

Štreimikienė²

2016

IJTEF

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From Conditionality to Europeanization in Central and Eastern Europe: Administrative Performance and Capacity in Cohesion Policy

Cited by 81 publications

References 28 publications

‘Doing more with less’ or ‘doing less with less’? Assessing EU cohesion policy’s financial instruments for urban development

‘Doing more with less’ or ‘doing less with less’? Assessing EU cohesion policy’s financial instruments for urban development

Financial Compliance in the European Union: A Cross‐National Assessment of Financial Correction Patterns and Causes in Cohesion Policy

Impact of Use of European Union Structural Funds for Sustainable Development in Member States

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