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Policy design, impact assessment and evaluation
Ex post Evaluations in the Context of Better Regulation: Where Do We Go? (+ Introductory module)
Learn how to design, manage and monitor high-quality ex post evaluations. This course includes an introductory module on the Better Regulation Policy Cycle.
- Is your organisation interested in enforcing their ex post evaluation function?
- How can you manage evaluation activities better?
- How can you ensure high-quality ex post evaluations?
- How can evaluation results provide the evidence required for decision-making, and help to improve policies and programmes?
This online course will answer all these questions. Specifically, it will enhance your ability to design, manage and monitor the evaluations conducted by your organisation, irrespective of whether they are supported by EU funds.
Introductory Module: learn about key concepts of Better Regulation (BR) and how they are applied across the policymaking cycle. Learn how the BR tools are used in practice in the European Commission (EC). Discuss how Member States (MSs) implement the Better Regulation Agenda and gain insight into the challenges and pitfalls of different modalities.
Core Module: Learn how to ensure high-quality ex post evaluations. First, gain a foundation of good practices in ex post evaluation through the lessons learned from implementation of the BR Guidelines and Toolbox. Building on this foundation, gain insight into the pillars of a sound evaluation design (the intervention logic, evaluation criteria, evaluation questions and the evaluation matrix). Moreover, learn practical skills for managing evaluation studies and stakeholder engagement. Finally, learn about the latest developments and innovations in evaluation to help keep your evaluations state-of-the-art.
If you are confident of all the basics, and do not feel that you need any further training on it, you can register only for the Course.
What you will learn in this course:
- What the policy cycle is and what Better Regulation means in theory and practice.
- How MSs assess, monitor and evaluate legislation. What are the common pitfalls, what are the good practices?
- How to manage an ex post evaluation of a legal act; how to engage and consult stakeholders.
- What evaluation design methodologies you can choose from to evaluate legislation.
- What is state-of-the-art in ex post evaluation of legislation and what the future looks like.
Course methodology/highlights
The course will be led by experts who have decades of both research and practical experience in evaluation in an EU context and beyond.
The course delivery will combine interactive presentations, showcasing practical examples, quick polls to consolidate concepts and quick group exercises.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- evaluate the pros and cons of different evaluation methodologies and tools, and select the ones most relevant to your case;
- commission and manage meaningful evaluations and ensure the proper dissemination of results;
- better integrate evaluation into the policy and programming cycle so it is actually used;
- recognise and identify what makes a good-quality evaluation.
You will be given the slides, as well as additional learning material and online resources, to help you apply your new knowledge and skills to your work.
Public officials, civil servants and policy analysts who work in government or parliamentary institutions, in EU Member States or candidate countries, similar to the following:
- ‘Better Regulation’ committees / programmes
- centres for research and analysis
- bureaucracy reduction agencies
- budget offices
- councils for regulatory impact assessments
Online Course
For this online course we make use of Zoom
Programme Organiser
Ms Eveline Hermens
Tel: + 31 43 3296259
e.hermens@eipa.eu
Discounts
EIPA offers a discount to all civil servants working for one of EIPA’s supporting countries, and civil servants working for an EU institution, body or agency.
Who are the supporting countries?
Civil servants coming from the following EIPA supporting countries are entitled to get the reduced fee: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden.
For all other participants, the regular fee applies.
Early bird discount
The early bird discount is not cumulative with our discounts, except for the EIPA Member fee
Confirmation
Confirmation of registration will be forwarded to participants on receipt of the completed online registration form.
Payment
Prior payment is a condition for participation.
Cancellation policy
For administrative reasons you will be charged € 50 for cancellations received within 7 days before the activity begins. There is no charge for qualified substitute participants.
EIPA reserves the right to cancel the activity up to 1 week before the starting date. In that case, registration fees received will be fully reimbursed.
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Programme
| 08.45 | Registration of participants |
| 09.00 | Welcome and introduction to the course Presentation of lecturers and seminar objectives Nikolaos Sarris, Evaluation Expert and Miranda Lovell Prescod, Research Assistant, EIPA |
| Better Regulation Policy Cycle – Introductory Module | |
| 9.15 | Introduction to the Better Regulation Policy Cycle – theory, principles and standards Better Regulation (BR) is about policymaking in an open and transparent manner. The first session of this training will cover the key concepts and principles of BR. We will introduce the policymaking cycle and its sequential phases. We will showcase the EC best practices and follow the trajectory of real-life legal acts from planning to implementation. |
| 10.00 | Break |
| 10.15 | Policy cycle in practice – methods, tools and practical examples In this session, we will explain the key concepts, principles and methodologies of regulatory evaluations. We will touch upon regulatory impact assessments and introduce the principles of stakeholder consultation. |
| 11.30 | Break |
| 11.45 | Good practices in MSs – common pitfalls and lessons learned In this session, we will discuss how MSs governments and parliaments aim for BR in practice. We will highlight some examples of interesting tailor-made features embedded within some MSs regulatory systems. Moreover, we will consider the common pitfalls throughout the policy cycle. |
| 13.00 | End of Introductory Module |
| 09.00 | Welcome and introduction to the course Jordi del Bas, Evaluation Expert |
| Regulatory ex post Evaluation (Part I) | |
| 09.15 | What we have learned from evaluating regulatory measures in the context of Better Regulation? This session sets the ground for the remainder of the course. We will look at what works and where challenges remain. As a starting point, we will use the results of the quality assurance work done by the Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) and lessons from the implementation of the BR Guidelines and Toolbox in ex post regulatory evaluations of the European Commission. |
| 10.15 | Break |
| 10.30 | How to design an ex post regulatory evaluation (I) Most weaknesses in the quality of ex post regulatory evaluations originate in the design. This session will look at the pillars of a sound evaluation design (the intervention logic, evaluation criteria, evaluation questions and the evaluation matrix). We will put the focus on good practices and common pitfalls. Group Exercise |
| 11.30 | Break |
| 11.45 | How to design an ex post regulatory evaluation (II) What methodological designs are there, and how can I choose the one that fits? The range of options is, at times, overwhelming. This session gives an overview of different evaluation approaches, their key features, and how and why to use them. The discussion revolves around real-life examples to show the strengths and weaknesses of various evaluation approaches, and ways to design and apply them in practice |
| 13.00 | End of the day |
| Regulatory ex post Evaluation (Part II) | |
| 09.15 | How to manage ex post regulatory evaluations: practical tips and considerations (I) In this session, we will look at quality assurance mechanisms throughout the process, how to manage evaluation studies outsourced to contractors and stakeholder consultation (open and targeted). |
| 10.15 | Break |
| 10.30 | How to manage ex post regulatory evaluations: practical tips and considerations (II) In this session, we will continue working on stakeholder consultation. We will also look at the quality of evaluation reports and ways to ensure and monitor the use of evaluation results. Group Exercise |
| 11.30 | Break |
| 11.45 | What’s coming up? Latest developments and innovations in evaluation. State-of-the-art and innovation in evaluating regulatory measures. The recent OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook (2021) highlights that ‘traditional regulatory management tools, such as regulatory impact assessment (RIA), stakeholder engagement and ex post evaluation need to be adapted to help governments navigate the challenges and the opportunities brought by transformative changes.’ Regulatory interventions increasingly operate in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) contexts. Such contexts result in less predictability, less control, unclear cause-and-effect relations and increasing confusion for organisations. New evaluation approaches are emerging to address this reality. This session will introduce some of these new approaches, which use real-time data, adaptive methods to evaluation, complexity theory and systems thinking. |
| 12.45 | Evaluation and end of the ex post evaluation course. |