Budapest Conference of the representatives of 15 EU Member States on the present and future of monitoring15 December 2011
The International Monitoring Conference held on 10-11 November in Budapest with the participation of some 160 persons from 15 Member States ended successfully. In addition to the presentation of the unique domestic monitoring system used by the National Development Agency (NDA), the participants of the Conference were introduced to international best practices and to the requirements of the 2014-2020 monitoring system.
Fifteen EU Member States had themselves represented at the Conference by some 160 participants, including the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, OECD (the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and JASPERS (the programme for Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions). Furthermore, ministries, national-level EU co-ordination departments, monitoring units of managing authorities and development policy experts of international renown were also present. One of the lecturers was Gábor Dányi, Vice President of the National Development Agency.
The participants discussed the experiences of the current period on Day 1 of the two-day Conference and the options and challenges of monitoring under the new regulatory framework on Day 2.
The programmes focusing on the current period gave an opportunity to present NDA’s monitoring activity, of a broader spectrum than those of the other Member States. The objective of Day 2 focusing on the 2014-2020 period was to discuss the complex monitoring regulations implying many challenges proposed by the European Commission, and to understand the related standpoints of the Member States.
Monitoring contributes to making the results achieved through the implementation of Cohesion Policy measurable and provides up-to-date information, assisting thereby the preparation of subsequent decisions and analytical work, and hence the more efficient utilisation of EU funds. It shall be kept in mind, however, during the design of the monitoring system that the administrative burdens shall not increase and the regulations shall remain as simple as possible.
Hosting the Conference was an excellent opportunity for Hungary, since EU-level expert conferences on the subject of monitoring are rather scarce. The event has allowed to present and propagate the domestic monitoring system and resources allocation forecasting system, by and large unique in the European Union, to the domestic and the international public. Furthermore, the participants got acquainted with the best practices presented by the other Member States, which they can thus integrate into their own systems later on, as well as to the monitoring requirements of the 2014-2020 period.