Integration is partner in the EMS Consortium in charge of the interim evaluation scheme covering all projects and programmes in the Central and Eastern European candidate countries. Permanent Interim Evaluation Cells are established in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Romania and Slovenia. A central office operates in Brussels.

The Interim Evaluation covers two types of programmes:

a) National Phare programmes and
b) Multi-country/ multi-beneficiary (MCMB) Programmes.

The approximately 200 Interim Evaluation reports per year, prepared by long-term experts based in the evaluation cells supported by short term technical specialists, bring together all relevant monitoring and assessment findings for each sector under consideration, the most important of which are:

• Agriculture and Environment
• Civil Society, Culture, Democracy,
• Education and Training, R&D, Science and Technology
• Energy and Nuclear Safety
• Finance and Banking
• Investment Promotion, Commerce, Trade and Export
• Justice and Home Affairs
• Public Administration, Partnership and Institution Building
• Private Sector, Business Development, SME
• Regional and Economic Development
• Social Sector, Labour Market and Employment, Health
• Transport and Telecommunication

The project intends to further strengthen the local monitoring and evaluation capacity and to support national pre-accession policies and management, and prepare the candidate countries for Structural Fund interventions.