Article 18

All proposals for programmes or activities occasioning budget expenditure shall be the subject of an ex ante evaluation, which shall address: the need to be met in the short or long term; the added value of Union involvement; the policy and management objectives to be achieved, which include measures necessary to safeguard the financial interests of the Union in the field of fraud prevention, detection, investigation, reparation and sanctions; the policy options available, including the risks associated with them; the results and impacts expected, in particular economic, social and environmental impacts, and the indicators and evaluation arrangement needed to measure them; the most appropriate method of implementation for the preferred option(s); the internal coherence of the proposed programme or activity and its relations with other relevant instruments; the volume of appropriations, human resources and other administrative expenditure to be allocated with due regard for the cost-effectiveness principle; the lessons learned from similar experiences in the past. The proposal shall set out the arrangements for monitoring, reporting and evaluation, taking due account of the respective responsibilities of all levels of government that will be involved in the implementation of the proposed programme or activity. All programmes or activities, including pilot projects and preparatory actions, where the resources mobilised exceed EUR 5000000 shall be the subject of an interim and/or ex post evaluation in terms of the human and financial resources allocated and the results obtained in order to verify that they were consistent with the objectives set, as follows: the results obtained in carrying out a multiannual programme shall be periodically evaluated in accordance with a timetable which enables the findings of that evaluation to be taken into account for any decision on the renewal, modification or suspension of the programme; activities financed on an annual basis shall have their results evaluated at least every six years. Points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph shall not apply to each of the projects or actions conducted within those activities, for which the requirement may be met by the final reports sent by the bodies which carried out the action. The evaluations referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 shall be proportionate to the resources mobilised for and the impact of the programme and activity concerned.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.