OECDMulti‑levelGovernanceStudies BuildingBeneficiaryCapacityunderEUCohesionPolicy AFrameworkforActionforManagingAuthorities OECDMulti‑levelGovernanceStudies BuildingBeneficiaryCapacityunder EUCohesionPolicy AFRAMEWORKFORACTIONFORMANAGINGAUTHORITIES ThisworkispublishedundertheresponsibilityoftheSecretary-GeneraloftheOECD.TheopinionsexpressedandargumentsemployedhereindonotnecessarilyreflecttheofficialviewsoftheMembercountriesoftheOECD. Thisdocument,aswellasanydataandmapincludedherein,arewithoutprejudicetothestatusoforsovereigntyoveranyterritory,tothedelimitationofinternationalfrontiersandboundariesandtothenameofanyterritory,cityorarea. NotebytheRepublicofTürkiye Theinformationinthisdocumentwithreferenceto“Cyprus”relatestothesouthernpartoftheIsland.ThereisnosingleauthorityrepresentingbothTurkishandGreekCypriotpeopleontheIsland.TürkiyerecognisestheTurkishRepublicofNorthernCyprus(TRNC).UntilalastingandequitablesolutionisfoundwithinthecontextoftheUnitedNations,Türkiyeshallpreserveitspositionconcerningthe“Cyprusissue”. NotebyalltheEuropeanUnionMemberStatesoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion TheRepublicofCyprusisrecognisedbyallmembersoftheUnitedNationswiththeexceptionofTürkiye.TheinformationinthisdocumentrelatestotheareaundertheeffectivecontroloftheGovernmentoftheRepublicofCyprus. Pleasecitethispublicationas: OECD(2025),BuildingBeneficiaryCapacityunderEUCohesionPolicy:AFrameworkforActionforManagingAuthorities,OECDMulti-levelGovernanceStudies,OECDPublishing,Paris,https://doi.org/10.1787/c2efa2e2-en. ISBN978-92-64-92171-9(print) ISBN978-92-64-61439-0(PDF) ISBN978-92-64-74124-9(HTML) OECDMulti-levelGovernanceStudiesISSN2414-6781(print) ISSN2414-679X(online) Photocredits:Cover©fanjianhua/GettyImagesPlus. CorrigendatoOECDpublicationsmaybefoundat:https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/support/corrigenda.html. ©OECD2025 Attribution4.0International(CCBY4.0) ThisworkismadeavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution4.0Internationallicence.Byusingthiswork,youaccepttobeboundbythetermsofthislicence(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attribution–youmustcitethework. Translations–youmustcitetheoriginalwork,identifychangestotheoriginalandaddthefollowingtext:Intheeventofanydiscrepancybetweentheoriginalworkandthetranslation,onlythetextoforiginalworkshouldbeconsideredvalid. Adaptations–youmustcitetheoriginalworkandaddthefollowingtext:ThisisanadaptationofanoriginalworkbytheOECD.TheopinionsexpressedandargumentsemployedinthisadaptationshouldnotbereportedasrepresentingtheofficialviewsoftheOECDorofitsMembercountries. Third-partymaterial–thelicencedoesnotapplytothird-partymaterialinthework.Ifusingsuchmaterial,youareresponsibleforobtainingpermissionfromthethirdpartyandforanyclaimsofinfringement. YoumustnotusetheOECDlogo,visualidentityorcoverimagewithoutexpresspermissionorsuggesttheOECDendorsesyouruseofthework. AnydisputearisingunderthislicenceshallbesettledbyarbitrationinaccordancewiththePermanentCourtofArbitration(PCA)ArbitrationRules2012.TheseatofarbitrationshallbeParis(France).Thenumberofarbitratorsshallbeone. Foreword TheEuropeanUnion’sCohesionPolicyfor2021-27representsasubstantialcommitmenttoregionaldevelopment.CohesionPolicyfundsprovidenearlyEUR400billion,complementedbyadditionalfundingfromEUMemberStates,tosupportahighlydiverserangeofbeneficiaries,includinglocalandnationalauthorities,smallandmedium-sizedenterprises(SMEs),civilsocietyorganisations(CSOs),researchinstitutionsandcommunitygroups.Theseinvestmentstargetanexpansivearrayofsectors,frominfrastructuremodernisation,digitalinnovationandsocialinclusioninitiativestogreentransitionandclimateresilience.Nevertheless,thisfundingperiodandtheforthcomingone(2028-34)aremarkedbytransformativechangesanduncertainties,shapedbyeconomicfluctuationsandevolvingpolicyprioritiesinresponsetoglobalcrisessuchasgeopoliticaltensionsandrapidtechnologicaladvances. RegardlessofhowCohesionPolicyevolves–whetherthroughnewpriorities,regulatoryframeworksorgovernancemodels,across-cuttingprerequisiteforthesuccessofCohesionPolicyisthecapacityofbeneficiaries.Whilemanystudieshaveexploredadministrativeandtechnicalcapacityofthepublicadministrationsystemsmanagingthefunds,researchfocusingonbeneficiariesthemselvesremainslimited.Meanwhile,thesubstantialdiversityofbeneficiaries–acrosscountriesandregions,organisationaltypesandsectors–underscorestheneedtobetterunderstandtheirdistinctcapacityneedsandtodesigntailored,evidence-basedcapacity-buildingmeasures.BuildingbeneficiarycapacitymeansnotonlyenablingbeneficiariestonavigateCohesionPolicyregulatorydemandsefficiently,butalsotodevelopandexecutestrategicandhigh-qualityinvestmentsthatcontributetoCohesionPolicyobjectives,sustainabledevelopmentandregionalresilience. OrganisationsmanagingtheCohesionPolicyfundsacrosscountriesandregions(“managingauthorities”)playacrucialroleinadvancingbeneficiarycapacity.Theirproximitytobeneficiariesandsectoralorregionalrealitiesplacestheminauniquepositiontobuildenablingframeworksforprojectdevelopment,managementandmonitoring.However,managingauthorit