The Ukrainian Institute for International Politics presented the study "Digital Tools for Managing Structural Funds. Chapter 22. Opportunities for Ukraine," authored by Rostyslav Tomenchuk, Director of Development at UIIP, and Nadiya Afanasieva, Director of UIIP.
The paper focuses on digital program management systems within the EU Cohesion Policy and their significance in preparing Ukraine for accession negotiations under Chapter 22. At its core is the need to establish interoperable electronic systems for national and regional programs, covering the full management cycle (from project submission and expenditure verification to monitoring, reporting, and auditing) in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/1060.
What is the background? The European Commission's annual reports on Chapter 22 consistently emphasize the necessity of building institutional capacity and sound financial management and control systems. Currently, Ukraine faces the challenge of testing a complete management and control framework even before gaining direct access to the EU Structural Funds.
The study thoroughly analyzes EC requirements for electronic systems (including integration with the unified SFC2021 platform), the distribution of access levels among managing authorities, beneficiaries, and auditors, and examines the practical experiences of EU Member States, namely France, Austria, Italy, and Spain, in building such systems. Special attention is given to the Ukrainian context: evaluating existing practices (such as the DREAM platform, Interreg tools, and RDA pilot projects), identifying key gaps in the current toolkit, and outlining concrete recommendations for enshrining functional requirements for digital regional development management systems in national legislation.
The preparation of the analytical note are carried out under the project “Cohesion and Structural Instruments in the Accession Negotiation Process.” This material was prepared with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation under the joint initiative “Whole-of-Society Accession: Strengthening Civil Society Role in Ukraine’s EU Accession.” The material represents the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the International Renaissance Foundation.
