Ex-post evaluation of the European refugee fund 2011-2013 and ex-post evaluation of the European refugee fund community actions 2008-2010

Pursuant to the Council Decision No. 2007/573/EC establishing the European Refugee Fund (ERF) for 2008-2013, the European Commission mandated the consulting firm EY to conduct the ex-post evaluation of the ERF 2011-2013, as well as of the ERF's Community Actions for the period 2008-2010. The evaluation applied a mixed-methods approach including desk research, interviews, surveys, an open public consultation and country visits to ensure that all relevant stakeholders were consulted. On this basis, answers were developed for evaluation questions related to the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and sustainability of the ERF, as well as its EU added value. With the €386 million programmed under the ERF in 2011-2013, in total, the 1,500 projects implemented in 27 Member States (MS) and 15 Community Actions reached around 1,000,000 asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection (including refugees). Emergency measures were also implemented in 11 MS faced with particular pressure. The evaluation found that the ERF was overall an effective and relevant instrument to support the efforts of MS to cope with the reception of seekers of international protection. It was particularly effective in contributing to the improvement of reception conditions and the integration of target groups, and provided added value to MS, especially to those with relatively less developed asylum systems that needed to establish national asylum policies and build necessary infrastructure. However, the ERF could have better contributed to the implementation of the Common European Asylum Systems by putting more emphasis on promoting the convergence of asylum systems and incentivising solidarity between MS to share the burden of receiving seekers of international protection.