Assessment of the progress in implementing the Evaluation Plans of RDPs 2014-2022. Chapter 2 of the AIRs submitted in 2024

This report examines 115 Annual Implementation Reports (AIRs) submitted in June 2024, covering activities during the calendar year 2023. It focuses on the analysis of information from 'Chapter 2,' detailing the progress of EU Member States, and the UK Rural Development Programme (RDP) evaluation plans.

This summary report lays out information on the description of any modifications made to the evaluation plan in the RDP, evaluation and data provision and management activities undertaken, completed evaluations and key evaluation findings, communication activities and the follow-up given to evaluation results.

Overall, the activities detailed in Chapter 2 reported in 2024 indicate a slight decrease in activities pertaining to evaluations, data management and completion of evaluations. In addition, there has been an increase in the actual results regarding reported evaluation findings, suggesting that Member States are now capitalising on the groundwork laid in the previous years.

In 2023, 143 completed evaluations and support studies were documented in the AIRs submitted by 17 Member States and the UK.

The most substantial share of evaluations, at 34%, pertains to CAP Objective 2, which focuses on the sustainable management of natural resources and initiatives for climate action. This is succeeded by evaluations addressing multiple rural development priorities, accounting for 19%. In addition, these evaluations investigated a diverse range of topics within rural development, including those associated with CAP Objective 1 - viable food production, representing 18%, and CAP Objective 3 - territorial balance, at 16%.

Breaking down the main types of evaluations reported in 2024, 48% of evaluations assessed results, followed by evaluations assessing the process of RDP implementation (16%) and research studies supporting evaluation (17%). The latter, for instance, included environmental monitoring studies. The share of evaluations assessing impacts remains at 17% of the total, compared to 2023.

976 evaluation findings were extracted from 51 AIRs from 17 Member States and the UK. In terms of thematic orientation, 29% of findings are primarily associated with ecosystems related to agriculture and forestry (RD Priority 4), 12% on social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development (RD Priority 6), 11% on farm viability and competitiveness (RD Priority 2).

The annexes include a list of selected completed evaluations reported in the AIRs, with links to online publications where available. They also feature examples of completed evaluations, illustrating some evaluation methods in relation to Rural Development priorities. Finally, the report provides recommendations to help Managing Authorities in better reporting.