Article 56 Evaluation of national programmes by Member States

Member States shall carry out the evaluations referred to in Article 57(1). The evaluation to be carried out in 2017 shall contribute to improving the quality of the design and the implementation of national programmes, in accordance with the common monitoring and evaluation framework.

Member States shall ensure that procedures are in place to produce and collect the data necessary for the evaluations referred to in paragraph 1, including data related to indicators in the common monitoring and evaluation framework.

The evaluations referred to in Article 57(1) shall be carried out by experts who are functionally independent of the Responsible Authorities, the Audit Authorities and the Delegated Authorities. Those experts may be affiliated to an autonomous public institution responsible for the monitoring, evaluation and audit of the administration. The Commission shall provide guidance on how to carry out evaluations.

The evaluations referred to in Article 57(1) shall be made public in their entirety, except where information is restricted due to its confidential nature, particularly concerning security, public order, criminal investigations and the protection of personal data.