1. 1 Evaluation of the websites devoted to the European regional policy Evaluation of the communication policy of the DG Regional Policy Gruppo SOGES The 30th of June 2005

2. 2 Contents 1 – Objectives of the evaluation 2 - Methodology 3 – The five best regional websites

3. 3 OBJECTIVES OF THE EVALUATION

4. 4  To choose and evaluate the websites that best explain the regional policy and the structural funds  To make a proposition of the exemplary websites to the DG Regional Policy which could be used as a model for the Member States of the European Union and in particular, for the new Member States

5. 5 METHODOLOGY

6. 6  Two working documents :  an evaluation grid filled out for every visited regional website  a fact sheet of the best practice identified for each country  Mobilised resources: 8 experts gathering the whole of the linguistic abilities of the EU  Use of the management authorities list available on Inforegio with a particular emphasis on the regional management authorities  Three stages of analysis / selection

7. 7 1st analysis phase 5 European regional policy-related criteria:  Elements of the regional policy are presented  Information is easy to find  Information is well structured  Information is exhaustive  Presentation is attractive Only those websites having received the highest score are analysed in detail during the second analysis phase 2nd analysis phase Detailed analysis: appreciation of different criteria through a coefficient between 1 and 4 according to the importance given to the assessment criteria of the website. 77 parameters have been used, covering the following subjects :  Information content  Information provider  Navigation  Visual presentation  Stage 1 : Evaluation chart / First selections

8. 8 The best regional website located for a country is presented in the form of a table : Strong PointsWeak PointsImprovement suggestions Information content Navigation Visual présentation  Stage 2 : selection of the best regional websites per country  Stage 3 : selection of the 5 best websites among all the regional websites of the 25 Member States

9. 9 Total of 203 analysed websites

10. 10 THE 5 BEST REGIONAL WEBSITES

11. 11 The website of the Government Office for the East Midlands (UK) http://www.go-em.gov.uk/european/index.php http://www.go-em.gov.uk/european/index.php

12. 12 The core of the best practice  A clear and attractive visual presentation  A clear structure (synopsis and inserts)  The headings « Publicity » and « Latest updates »

13. 13 The website of Berlin (Germany) http://www.berlin.de/strukturfonds/index.html

14. 14 The core of the best practice  A clear and attractive visual presentation  An exhaustive and pedagogic treatment of information on the European regional policy  A common plan dedicated to the three main headings: ERDF, ESF and EAGGF which makes the information research easy  A sub-heading dedicated to the projects funded under ERDF, ESF and EAGGF

15. 15 The website of the Government Office of East England (UK) http://www.go-east.gov.uk/ http://www.go-east.gov.uk/

16. 16 The core of the best practice  An exhaustive and pedagogic treatment of information on the European regional policy  The headings « Best practices » and « Cohesion policy after 2006 »

17. 17 The website of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region (It.) http://www.regione.fvg.it/progcom/progcom.htm http://www.regione.fvg.it/progcom/progcom.htm

18. 18 The core of the best practice  Architecture and visual presentation of the part concerning the European regional policy  The first page leads to three levels (« Documentations » on the left of the screen, « Programmes 2000-2006 » in the middle, « Links » on the right)  A summary on the top of the page, allowing a prompt access to the related heading, is available for each programme  For each programme, the website presents the “calls for proposals” and the “workshops and seminars”

19. 19 Le site de la Province de Flevoland (Pays Bas) http://www.flevoland.nl http://www.flevoland.nl

20. 20 The core of the best practice A clear and structured presentation, visually pleasant An excellent headline « communication » The originality of the multimedia presentations : short films explaining programmes and procedures The contacts of the experts in charge of the missions (with picture) are systematically included in order to facilitate contacts with the management authority (good accessibility)