Administrative Capacity-Building in 2021-27 – Priorities, Strategies and Implementation: Report to the 55th IQ-Net meeting

Managing Cohesion Policy programmes is one of the most important and complex tasks in the EU, undertaken within an unstable environment with many implementation challenges arising frequently. Administrative capability is therefore needed to ensure timely, legal and effective spending. The key questions for this IQ-Net paper are how administrative capacity-building (ACB) is working in the 2021-27 period, and what is the value of different support instruments and tools. In this respect the paper will analyse priorities, strategies and the implementation of ACB.

The paper has reviewed the 2019 ‘Annex Ds’, and IQ-Net partners were asked to identify internal and external factors that influence the implementation of Cohesion Policy. In this respect, Human Resources are identified as an important internal factor of programme implementation, and administrative capacity for beneficiaries is for all IQ-Net partners an important external factor that needs in most cases, improvement.
In terms of strategic approach, regardless of whether a formal administrative capacity building roadmap has been developed, all IQ-Net partners are actively monitoring the dynamics and are seeking ways to improve the implementing of Cohesion Policy programmes.
Building capacity of beneficiaries and stakeholders is a multi-actor, multi-level, long-term process that can be achieved by combining events, training sessions and personal contacts between programme authorities and beneficiaries. Given the importance of human resources for the successful implementation of programmes, IQ-Net partners have developed numerous measures and tools to retain qualified and motivated staff. These can be grouped into three categories, training, good working conditions and opportunities for collaboration. The paper also analyses IQ-Net partners’ use of Technical Assistance (TA), as it is a powerful facilitator of administrative capacity building initiatives and may provide the necessary financing to implement tools and capacity building measures.

The review of administrative capacity building measures in this paper provides only a snapshot of all the measures and activities that are going on. Fundamentally, what this paper shows is that, as we strive to seek improvements to the implementation of Cohesion policy programmes, administrative capacity building is for everyone, everywhere, all the time.