CHAPTER IX

MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REPORTS

Monitoring and evaluation
Article 47
1
The Commission shall carry out regular monitoring on the Fund in cooperation with the Member States.
2
The Fund shall be evaluated by the Commission in partnership with the Member States to assess the relevance, effectiveness and impact of actions in the light of the general objective referred to in Article 2 in the context of the preparation for the reports set out in Article 48(3).
3
The Commission shall also consider the complementarity between the actions implemented under the Fund and those pursued under other relevant Community policies, instruments and initiatives.

Reporting obligations
Article 48
1
In each Member State the responsible authority shall take the necessary measures to ensure project-monitoring and evaluation.
To that end, the agreements and contracts it concludes with the organisations responsible for the implementation of the actions shall include clauses laying down an obligation to submit regular and detailed reports on the state of progress of implementation and completion of the assigned objectives which shall be the basis for, respectively, the progress and final reports on the implementation of the annual programme.
2
The Member States shall submit to the Commission:
a
by 30 June 2010, an evaluation report on the implementation of actions co-financed by the Fund;
b
by 30 June 2012 for the period 2007 to 2010 and 30 June 2015 for the period 2011 to 2013 respectively, an evaluation report on the results and impact of actions co-financed by the Fund.
3
The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions:
a
by 30 June 2009, a report on and a review of the application of the criteria set out in Article 12 for the annual breakdown of resources between Member States; together with proposals for amendments if deemed necessary;
b
by 31 December 2010, an intermediate report on the results achieved and on qualitative and quantitative aspects of implementation of the Fund, together with a proposal on the Fund's future development;
c
by 31 December 2012 for the period 2007 to 2010 and 31 December 2015 for the period 2011 to 2013 respectively, an ex post evaluation report.

Final report on the implementation of the annual programme
Article 49
1
The final report on the implementation of the annual programme shall include the following information in order to obtain a clear view of the implementation of the programme:
a
the financial and operational implementation of the annual programme;
b
the progress made in implementing the multi-annual programme and its priorities in relation to its specific, verifiable targets, with a quantification, wherever and whenever they lend themselves to quantification, of the indicators;
c
the steps taken by the responsible authority to ensure the quality and effectiveness of implementation, in particular:
1. monitoring and evaluation measures, including data collection arrangements;
2. a summary of any significant problems encountered in implementing the operational programme and any measures taken;
3. the use made of technical assistance;
d
the measures taken to provide information on and make public the annual and multi-annual programmes.
2
The report shall be judged acceptable where it contains all the information listed in paragraph 1. The Commission shall reach a decision on the content of the report submitted by the responsible authority within two months of having received all the information referred to in paragraph 1, which shall be acknowledged to the Member States. If the Commission does not respond within the time limit laid down, the report shall be deemed to be accepted.