2021 interim annual evaluation report of Aragon

The 2021 interim evaluation report responds to the work carried out by the evaluation team of the Aragon 2014-2022 RDP during the period of 1 January 2021 to 3 December 2021.

The ongoing evaluation process for 2021 focused on advancing the analysis of the effects of the RDP in view of the final evaluation exercise, i.e the ex post evaluation. Expected to be delivered to the European Commission in 2026, two years later than initially scheduled, due to the 2021-2022 transition period between the two programming periods.

The objectives of this report were to: (1) check the availability of data in the RECAN for the calculation of socioeconomic impact indicators; (2) demonstrate the availability of data for the analysis of the impact and results of the RDP; (3) check the availability of data for updating context indicators; (4) update the methodology for the calculation of complementary results and impact indicators; (5) show the review of the recommendations of the evaluation carried out in 2019; (6) present the selection of good practice cases from projects supported by the RDP of Aragon; and (7) show the results of the analysis of the actions being developed under sub-Measure 2.1 and the scope of the results of the RDP of Aragon in the area of farm and forestry advice in the region.

The work focused on checking the availability of data necessary to calculate the impact of the RDP on the territory, as well as on updating the methodology for calculating results and impact indicators to overcome the limitations detected in the full evaluation exercise presented in 2019.

In this regard, alternative sources of information have been sought that could address the identified information gaps. Derived from the launch in 2019 of the computer application that collects statistical information from the agricultural sector, including economic data from farms, allowed the analysis of future data, such as the evolution of agricultural incomes.

In addition, attention has been paid to the recommendations presented in the 2018 extended evaluation report to monitor them and observe the evolution of the RDP.

Once the aspects described in the evaluation framework have been addressed, the evaluation summarises the extensive conclusions derived from the analyses. If aspects to be reinforced are identified, the relevant recommendations are made.