The 2014-2020 European Regional Development Fund Indicators: The Incomplete Evolution.

After nearly 20 years without any significant changes, the indicators of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) have undergone a major overhaul in the current 2014-2020 programming period. This paper reviews the characteristics of the ERDF indicator system evolution and contextualises the changes. Based on applying a logic model and practical examples, we argue that in spite of the good justification for changes, the new ERDF intervention logic and indicator system did not solve some of the well-known problems and brought new challenges for the ERDF-supported programmes. The main challenges that still remain to be solved are: differing indicator concepts between the European Union funds; inconsistency of the common output indicators; difficulties in establishing a programme’s contribution to results; persistent problems in determining the target values for results; and broad result indicators with indirect link to interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]