Taking stock of structural funds implementation : current challenges and future opportunities

This paper highlights several themes which have informed programme management since IQ-Net meeting in June 2002, held in Lulea, Sweden. First, it provides an overview of the main development in programme implementation and the financial execution of programmes, including an exploration of the risks of automatic decommitment faced by the programmes. Second, it describes the progress made with the mid-term evaluations, following on the IQ-Net thematic paper on this subject presented at the Lulea conference. Third, it presents an overview of the current EU-level debate on simplification, highlighting the views of the network's partners as well as, where available, the member state