The rural development programmes (RDP) are part of the common agricultural policy. The purpose is to improve the rural economy, the environment, and animal welfare. Member states (MS) design their own RDP by chosing measures from a pre-determined menue. RDPs are to be evaluated ex-ante, mid-term, and expost according to a common procedure governed by evaluation questions identical for all MS.

The common evaluation procedure has the potential to increase programme efficiency as it enhances the MS’ possibilities to learn from each other’s experiences. However, for the evaluations to produce quality results, methodological and data requirements are high. The purpose of the present study is, therefore, to analyse what data and methods have been utilized and to what extent evaluation results have influenced the design of the RDPs. The material consists of the RDPs for 2000-2006, 2007-2013, 2014-2020; the mid-term and ex-post evaluations of the programmes for 2000-2006, and the mid-term evaluation of the programmes for 2007-2013, for a number of MS.

The study is financed by FORMAS. It is part of the project ”Towards Rural Synergies and Trade-offs between Economic development and Ecosystem services (TRUSTEE)” under the 7’th framework programme.