Division The framework of the evaluation

It will include:

1. a..

   an evaluation of the EIB's external financing activities. Parts of the evaluation will be conducted in cooperation with the EIB's and the Commission's evaluation departments;

2. b..

   an assessment of the wider impact of the EIB's external lending on interaction with other IFIs and other sources of finance.

The evaluation will be supervised and managed by a steering committee comprising several ‘wise persons’ appointed by the EIB Board of Governors, an EIB and a Commission representative. The steering committee will be chaired by one such ‘wise person’. It will convene no later than during the first semester of 2008.

The steering committee will be supported by the EIB's and the Commission's evaluation departments and by external expertise. These external experts will be selected through a Commission tender process. The steering committee will be consulted on the terms of reference and on the criteria for the selection of the external experts. The costs of external experts will then be borne by the Commission and will be covered by the budget line dedicated to the provisioning of the Guarantee Fund.

The final evaluation report submitted by the steering committee will draw clear conclusions, based on the information gathered, to base the decision of the mid-term review on whether to release the optional tranche for the remaining term of the mandate and on the regional distribution of any additional financing.