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The Shared Management of Cohesion Policy: Accountability at a Crossroads?

Comparative Politics
European Union
Public Administration
Laura Polverari
Department of Political Science, Law, and International Studies, University of Padova
Ida Musiałkowska
Laura Polverari
Department of Political Science, Law, and International Studies, University of Padova

Abstract

Shared management is one of the mechanisms utilised for policy delivery under the European budget. In the context of European cohesion policy, this model has become increasingly questioned and pressure for reform has intensified. Tensions between financial accountability and performance have been at the heart of such debates. At a time when alternative delivery models are being considered, this paper aims to contribute to the debate analysing the accountability challenges that emerged during 2007-13 and 2014-20 programme periods, disentangling those accountability issues that are intrinsic to the shared management model and those that are largely due to factors external to it, whether related to the European or the domestic policy frameworks. Analysis of literature and of EU policy documents (e.g. ECA reports, Member State positions on cohesion policy reform, evaluation of evidence), and case study research on selected EU Member States - namely Austria, Italy, Poland and the UK (i.e. countries with both low and high cohesion policy receipts as well as devolved and centralised systems) - will be used to appreciate the exact nature of the accountability problems encountered, their roots and the specific variations due to different domestic settings.