Building Beneficiary Capacity under EU Cohesion Policy

Through past programming periods, Cohesion Policy beneficiaries have made large strides in developing a suite of strategic, technical, administrative and financial capacities used when investing the funds. However, many still grapple with capacity constraints and challenges, including 1) a perceived shortage of thematic expertise (e.g. in social innovation and green transition), particularly among subnational governments; and 2) administrative burden and procedural complexity, with non-public beneficiaries such as businesses potentially facing more administrative challenges than others. Furthermore, beneficiaries present different capacity needs across a variety of parameters, including programmes (e.g. regional, national, transnational), organisational types (e.g. public, private), project size and experience with Cohesion Policy funds.

Cohesion Policy investment processes must be “beneficiary friendly” to avoid sidelining high-quality projects owing to administrative complexities. Beneficiary support should be precisely tailored, addressing both the specific programme objectives and the needs of different beneficiary groups (e.g. by addressing thematic knowledge gaps in subnational governments). Beneficiaries also need tools to manage risks and changes in project implementation, as well as overcome operational and regulatory hurdles.

Beneficiary capacity building is a strategic lever for implementing Cohesion Policy. It should be long-term and impact-oriented, aiming to transform beneficiaries into capable actors that contribute to Cohesion Policy goals. A long-term approach can also increase adaptability and flatten potentially steep learning curves when programme priorities and governance frameworks change. Managing authorities are central to this endeavour: they design and deploy beneficiary support measures and invest in initiatives that enhance beneficiaries’ capabilities. As Cohesion Policy evolves and the beneficiary pool changes, managing authorities will need to anticipate and understand the capacity needs of their beneficiary groups, develop effective beneficiary support strategies under new contexts, and strengthen partnerships with beneficiaries to ensure the success of investments in established and emerging areas.

Several enabling conditions are necessary for managing authorities to build beneficiary capacity. These include: 1) a clear mandate for beneficiary capacity building, enabling them to build trust-based partnerships with their beneficiaries; 2) opportunities to learn from peers and pilot innovative measures in supporting beneficiaries; and 3) incentives and capacities to develop and integrate beneficiary capacity insights into programme design. Key to this is having the time, resources, data and ability to analyse beneficiary capacity, actively engage with beneficiaries and track progress in capacity development throughout the programme cycle. Managing authorities, EU Member States and the European Commission could strengthen data on beneficiary capacity, capture capacity-building measures and outcomes, and facilitate more exchanges across programmes and countries on beneficiary capacity building. These exchanges can take place among authorities within the same country; managing authorities can also explore existing opportunities at the European Union level, such as the Good Governance for Cohesion Policy forum, the Network of Heads of Managing Authorities and other peer-learning tools.

Ultimately, beneficiary capacity building is only sustainable when beneficiaries view participating in Cohesion Policy programmes as a rewarding experience, and feel motivated to learn by engaging in the programme. Managing authorities should consider crafting incentives for beneficiaries to build capacity. In addition, investment processes for Cohesion Policy funds need to be made easier – not just at the EU level, but also at the programme and project level – to free up beneficiaries’ time and resources and enable them to invest in capacity building.

This report presents a beneficiary capacity-building framework for managing authorities, covering the four pillars outlined below. Managing authorities are encouraged to use this framework as a guide to shape their beneficiary capacity-building approach and develop a detailed implementation plan based on the Managing Authority Toolkit for Beneficiary Capacity Building under EU Cohesion Policy.

Many managing authorities face persistent workforce challenges, including staff shortages, siloed operations and reactive or ad hoc support models, affecting their ability to provide effective beneficiary support. To address these issues, managing authorities can clarify the responsibilities for supporting beneficiaries and align workforce management processes accordingly. They can achieve this through more consistent and coherent internal and external co-ordination, and by building comprehensive knowledge management systems to provide the clarity beneficiaries need, when they need it.

Managing authorities generally do not actively gather, analyse and use information and inputs from beneficiaries to shape and target beneficiary capacity-building activities. Moving forward, managing authorities could systematically build their ability to do so. One important step is to facilitate dialogue opportunities with beneficiaries in order to understand their challenges and co-design capacity-building measures. Furthermore, managing authorities should pay extra attention to engaging existing and new beneficiaries who do not actively express their concerns and opinions. Doing so could help ensure that investments are reaching those who are most in need, rather than simply those who are most visible.

While managing authorities use a variety of tools – from broad outreach on social media to targeted one-on-one advisory sessions – the effectiveness of these tools is sometimes restricted by low awareness among beneficiaries, unclear language, poor timing and a lack of tailoring to different types of beneficiaries. Addressing these issues may require managing authorities to rethink their technical support and communication tools to ensure they are user-friendly, timely, relevant and practical. Ideas for action include providing real-time examples and case studies to help beneficiaries learn from peers, developing accessible and navigable resources such as a “public library” for beneficiaries, and building in ongoing checks to ensure that technical support and communication remain effective over time.

Building beneficiary capacity involves many actors – from policy makers who set the overarching strategies that guide programme design to the associations, agencies and networks that also support beneficiaries. Working with them can streamline beneficiary capacity-building efforts. However, long-term, broadly based collaboration between managing authorities and these actors to build beneficiary capacity remains limited. To expand such collaboration and better assist beneficiaries, managing authorities could begin by developing a comprehensive understanding of these external stakeholders – who they are, what they do, and how they would like to be engaged.