Programme impact evaluation report (2020)
Throughout the spring and summer 2020, the Institute of Baltic Studies carried out the most substantial evaluation of the programme. The aim of this evaluation was to assess whether the funds contributed by the programme caused positive changes in the programme area and possibly outside it. The results of the evaluation are compiled in the report and an Annex.
Mid-term evaluation on the fulfilment of the eight programme result indicators (2018)
For assessing the fulfilment of the result indicators in 2018, we used the same questionnaires, respondents/sample and methodology for gathering the data as we did for setting the baseline values (please see the description and respective survey and excel files below) to have comparable data.
Six out of eight result indicators demonstrate the increase in 2017/2018 (see the green numbers in the table below) compared to the baseline value in 2014/2015.
Priority 1 "Active and attractive business environment"
The result has dropped (see the red numbers in the table below) compared to the baseline value for the indicators 1.1 “Share of entrepreneurs and new businesses in the region (not older than 3 years), which are ready for cross-border cooperation”, and 1.2 ”Share of entrepreneurs carrying out joint product or service development”. We can assume that as the first projects that contribute to these indicators started only in 2017 and are in the middle of implementation, their impact is still too early to measure.
Priority 2 "Clean and valued living environment"
The number of visitors to the natural and cultural heritage sites, result indicator 2.1, was determined by asking the yearly visits from the same 187 sites in Estonia and Latvia as in 2014. There were a few sites that did not have the data or that are out of business, but the total number shows an increase.
Result indicators 2.2.1 “Awareness of people about resource efficiency with a focus on waste and energy saving” and 2.2.2 “Cooperation intensity between institutions on management of water bodies and coastal areas” show a growing trend.
Interestingly, people in Latvia consider themselves to know statistically more about energy saving than Estonians, 50% and 43% respectively, but Estonians consider themselves to act more towards saving energy. In waste sorting, Estonians consider their awareness to be higher than that of Latvians - 77% and 62% respectively. The most widely sorted waste categories are paper and carton 57%, glass 51%, plastic packages 49%.
The intensity of cooperation between institutions on the management of water bodies and coastal areas have raised stronger. The survey report identifies 15 different modes and purposes for cooperation, including fishing resource protection, railroad influence on environment evaluation, Baltic Sea coastal planning and evaluation of State Environmental Services tasks and efficiency.
We are glad to see that more people consider Valga (EE) and Valka (LV) as joint town (indicator 2.3 “The share of inhabitants of Valga and Valka considering Valga and Valka as a joint entity”). 24% of inhabitants consider that Valga and Valka are rather grown together with some separate elements while 5% consider Valka and Valga as one town. People’s preferences in joint activities are medical treatment, transport connections between the towns, creation of workplaces and joint businesses.
Priority 3 "Better network of harbours"
The data for the result indicator 3.1, visiting vessels in small harbours, we gathered from the harbours and official data available at the webpage of the Maritime Administration of Estonia, https://veeteedeamet.ee. The numbers show a slow, but steady increase.
Priority 4 "Integrated labour market"
The number of people crossing the border (indicator 4.1 “Work commuters crossing the border”) has significantly increased compared to the year 2014. The survey presents the commuters into two categories: people living in Estonia, who go to work in Latvia and people living in Latvia, who go to work in Estonia. According to the survey, there was 1266 frequent commuters from Estonia to Latvia and 2566 frequent commuters from Latvia to Estonia. The growth of daily and other frequent commuters doubled, while the number of weekly frequent commuters increased only by 10%. Based on the survey it cannot be concluded whether the increase was because of the free labour movement or the effect of the border trade, as sometimes the goods in another side of the border are cheaper.
In the below table you can see the overview, and should you seek for more information, please scroll down for the surveys for the indicators 1.1, 1.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.1 and 4.1, and the excel files with information about indicators 2.1, 3.1 and 4.1.
| RESULT INDICATOR | Baseline 2014/2015 | Result_2018 | Target_2023 |
| 1.1 Share of entrepreneurs and new businesses in the region (not older than 3 years), which are ready for cross-border cooperation | 53% | 46% | 59% |
| 1.2 Share of entrepreneurs carrying out joint product or service development | 14% | 13% | 19% |
| 2.1 Visitors to the natural and cultural heritage sites | 3 103 576 | 3 729 721 (for 2017) |
3 786 000 |
| 2.2.1 Awareness of people about resource efficiency with a focus on waste and energy saving | 43% | 53% | 53% |
| 2.2.2 Cooperation intensity between institutions on management of water bodies and coastal areas | 36% | 46% | 59% |
| 2.3.1 The share of inhabitants of Valga and Valka considering Valga and Valka as a joint entity | 21% | 29% | 28% |
| 3.1 Number of visiting vessels at small harbours | 6 420 | 7 789 | 16 000 |
| 4.1 Work commuters crossing the border | 2 753 | 4 598 | 3 100 |
SO 1.1 Survey report 2018 {1,8 MB}
SO 1.2 Survey report 2018 {1,86 MB}
SO 2.1 Visitors to EE and LV sites 2017 {83 KB}
SO 2.2.1 Awareness about resource efficiency 2018 {1,84 MB}
SO 2.2.2 Cooperation intensity on management joint waters 2018 {1,5 MB}
SO 2.3 Valga and Valka as a joint entity 2018 {1,4 MB}
SO 3.1 Visiting vessels 2018 {43 KB}
SO 4.1 Work commuters 2018 {867 KB}
SO 4.1 EE LV work commuters 2013 VS 2018 {26 KB}
On 24 September 2020, the Cooperation Programme was changed and new SO 2.4 was introduced under Priority 2. The description of how the baseline and target values of the result indicators for SO2.4 were established is provided below.
In the description below it is explained, how the baseline and target values of the result indicators for the programme were established back in 2014-2015 and respective surveys and data gathered in 2014-2015 are all together in the zip file below.
Description for setting result indicator baselines and targets 2014-2015 {327.59 KB}
Surveys and excels 2014-2015 {2,6 MB}
In 2017 we carried out a survey to assess the quality and relevance of our communication activities.
The Monitoring Committee of the programme approved the report of the survey in spring 2018.
Performance Evaluation Report {3.88MB}
During the period March 2013 – May 2014 a consortium of CPD Ltd and Safege Baltija Ltd carried out the ex-ante evaluation to improve the quality of the design of the Estonia-Latvia programme 2014-2020.
Estonia-Latvia programme 2014-2020 Ex-ante Evaluation Report {1.15 MB}