1. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 1 LESSONS FROM THE THEMATIC EVALUATION OF THE TERRITORIAL EMPLOYMENT PACTS Veronica Gaffey, DG Regional Policy, Evaluation Unit

2. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 2  Evaluation undertaken by Ecotec Research and Consulting (November 2001 - October 2002)  Available on Inforegio: http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/ INFORMATION ABOUT THE EVALUATION

3. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 3 WHAT WERE THE TERRITORIAL EMPLOYMENT PACTS (TEPs)?  Multi stakeholder partnerships at local level.  Objective: to tackle unemployment and promote job creation.  89 Pacts in 15 Member States between 1996 and 2001.  €300,000 Funding from Structural Funds

4. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 4 ATTRIBUTES OF TERRITORIAL EMPLOYMENT PACTS  Territorial Partnerships with an employment focus: - bottom up - broadly based - pursuing an integrated strategy - innovative

5. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 5 TASKS OF THE EVALUATION  Strategic Evaluation of Territorial Employment Pacts (TEPs) as a policy instrument  Relevance of the Approach  Cohesion of instruments and objectives  Catalytic effects achieved  Cost effectiveness and added value

6. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 6 METHOD  Documentation and monitoring data review and analysis of all 89 Pacts  National and European key informant interviews  30 Case Studies in all Member States representing the diversity of contexts

7. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 7 WIDE DIVERSITY  Scale: part of municipality to whole region - 16,000 to 3 million people  Territory: sparsely populated, remote rural to world cities; high and low unemployment  Partnerships: 5 to 50+ partners; diversity of sectors  Objectives/actions: high level strategic planning to delivery of local projects

8. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 8 ASSESSING RESULTS 1. Were Territorial Employment Pacts as envisaged actually created? 2. What did they achieve? 3. What factors explain the observed performance? 4. What can be concluded?

9. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 9 WERE PACTS CREATED, AS FORESEEN? Yes, up to a point: 62% (55) demonstrated at least partial conformity with the model.

10. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 10 WHAT DID THEY ACHIEVE? Pacts’ own view focused on partnership formation and co-operative benefits:  increased mutual trust & understanding  better resource deployment & leverage  planning, funding & delivery of local actions  increased coherence in policy  better articulation of supply and demand

11. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 11 ACHIEVEMENTS 2  Direct employment effects partial & small scale, but not a primary objective of programme  Indirect employment effects difficult to isolate - best seen in: - innovative ideas & practices, - targeting of resources on agreed priorities - greater responsiveness to change - greater co-ordination

12. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 12 ACHIEVEMENTS 3  Costs/benefits impossible to assess  Wide variations in “levered” funds, some achieved considerable influence, others none  Mainstreaming and wider dissemination limited

13. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 13 WHAT EXPLAINS PERFORMANCE?  NOT decisive: - nature of labour market - spatial/administrative scale - human geography  Good and bad examples in all  Successful responses varied but hinged on adapting role to circumstances

14. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 14 EXPLANATIONS 2  Decisive factor: governance context and the ways in which Pacts were able to interact with it  Closely associated with Member State institutional context

15. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 15 Governance Context  Most positive results in “receptive” contexts, where there is an accepted and legally determined role for devolved governance powers at local level, but not systematically combined with extensive multi-stakeholder partnership working.  Italy and Ireland - particularly successful examples. Also Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany and Spain.

16. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 16 Governance Context 2  In countries with a limited history of local level activity in relation to the labour market, Pacts were least successful.  Little appreciation of the merits of the bottom-up partnership and not enough competence or institutional capacity in place.  Portugal, Greece and Luxembourg

17. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 17 Governance Context 3  In countries with a long history of governmental intervention in the labour market and territorial development, and where partnership working is common, Pacts struggled to find a role.  Wide variety of performance with examples of both successful and weak Pacts in same country.  Denmark, France, Netherlands, Sweden, UK

18. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 18 Conclusions  Allowing for variability in context and performance, the basis Pact model has considerable potential:  co-ordination of actors and building positive relationships  development of coherent and streamlined strategy  stimulation and delivery of innovative approaches

19. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 19 Conclusions 2  Value of the “ Pact model” is best achieved with a combination of:  receptive space in the policy and practice environment  positive attitude from superior authorities (good vertical links)  enough bodies able and willing to be co- ordinated and whose joint working is genuinely additional to existing structures  good internal management  strategic vision to identify opportunities for new approaches

20. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 20 Conclusions 3  If these circumstances exist, the model has applicability to, for example:  employment  territorial development, e.g., competitiveness, local economic development  business support  integration of education, training, lifelong learning and skills demand

21. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 21 Relevance to Future Structural Policies  For existing Objective 2 and 3 regions, where there is a tradition and capacity for partnership working, the model offers an opportunity to add value in different areas (not only employment) in the context of reduced resources.  Existing partnerships should be the starting point.

22. 2000-2006 EU-Regional Policy Structural actions 22 Relevance to Future Structural Policies 2  For current Objective 1 regions without such capacity and the new Member States, the development of multi- stakeholder partnership capacity is a longer-term objective, to be stimulated through small scale pilot actions leading to longer term capacity building  In all cases, clear guidance on design, selection procedures, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and dissemination is essential