At the corporate, instrument and programming levels, monitoring and reporting obligations are embedded in corresponding regulations, such as the Commission Implementing Regulation , which represents the legal basis for EU external assistance.

EU Results Framework

The EU International Cooperation and Development Results Framework was introduced in 2015 to  improve results monitoring and reporting, and to enhance the accountability and transparency of EU aid. Since framework initiation, INTPA has made considerable effort to enhance its results reporting at the corporate level. Most notably, aggregated cooperation results against the EU Results Framework have been reported in annual reports.

The EU Results Framework consists of results indicators at three levels.

• Level 1 indicators track development progress in partner countries. Data come from national statistics and international monitoring databases.
• Level 2 indicators track development outcomes and outputs to which EU-funded interventions contributed. Data come from implementing partners, internal monitoring systems and documents at the intervention level.
• Level 3 indicators track policy priority mainstreaming as measured by EU's budgetary commitments for specific priorities. Data come from EU financial and administrative systems.

INTPA carries out an annual data collection exercise to collect data for Level 2 indicators from a sample of interventions. The sample has been continually enlarged since 2015, and now also includes blending and (partially) budget support interventions. Intervention results data on indicators that fall within the scope of EU Results Framework indicator are then counted towards the framework's aggregated results. Aggregated numbers are presented in the INTPA annual report, annual activity report and various communication products. Detailed data at the intervention level is available in the My INTPA and is published by the International Aid Transparency Initiative and the EU Aid Explorer.

The EU Results Framework was revised in 2018 to align it with the new policy framework for international cooperation and development at the EU and international levels (see more information in the Staff Working Document SWD (2018), with the list of indicators in Annex 2). The revised framework is structured around the SDGs and results statements from the New European Consensus on Development, while retaining its function of enhancing the accountability and transparency of EU international cooperation activities. Following the inclusion of ongoing interventions in results reporting in 2018, the framework reinforced its function of informing management decisions and promoting learning. This is done by providing feedback on results of cooperation policies and actions, feeding into evaluations. Operational managers can use results data and lessons learned to design new interventions and adapt to enhance delivery of ongoing interventions. Furthermore, during annual results reporting, data collection and analyses can reveal intervention logic weaknesses. They therefore provide an important input for updating the monitoring system.

Other INTPA results frameworks

Other specific indicators measurement frameworks have been developed to report on aggregated results, including the European Fund for Sustainable Development and indicators for the EU Trust Funds. (See EFSD Regulation and related legal acts)

The European Fund for Sustainable Development is a pillar of the European External Investment Plan, with two operational instruments: guarantees (investment windows) and blending grants (investment platforms). Its results measurement framework is defined at three levels: (a) the level of the fund's eight general objectives, (b) the window/platform aggregated level and (c) the level of specific investment and blending interventions.

There are four EU Trust Funds in external assistance: Trust Fund Bêkou, EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, and EU Colombia Trust Fund. Their performance is monitored via a set of pre-agreed aggregable indicators corresponding to their objectives, defined as a results measurement framework. This framework is used for institutional reporting as required. Individual interventions make use of these indicators as relevant and add other indicators that are context-specific in line with the intervention logic.

External Assistance Management Report

Delegations and INTPA operational services report annually on core activities through the  External Assistance Management Report (EAMR). It provides an annual snapshot with regard to operational and financial management, internal control and audit systems. The EAMR has two purposes: management support (information on progress made and obstacles in implementation) and accountability (statement of assurance on the management of sub-delegated funds, leading to INTPA's signed declaration in the annual activity report).

A set of key performance indicators (KPIs) (More information:  KPI Dashboard  , and further details in the Note to INTPA Directors and Heads of Delegations on the Elaboration of the EAMR , measures performance against targets or benchmarks. Major deviations must be justified. Results are shown using a traffic light system (green, orange or red).
The EAMR contains three KPIs particularly linked to the performance, results and monitoring system of each intervention:

• KPI 6 - on implementation progress;
• KPI 7 - on results achievement;
• KPI 19 – percentage of interventions visited during the reporting period.

An intervention is considered to have implementation problems if KPI 6 and/or KPI 7 is flagged orange or red. Subsequently, this activates a ROM review. Other financial KPIs also allow intervention performance to be assessed.

INTPA reporting dashboards

Starting in 2014, INTPA introduced three dashboards — KPI, Portfolio Management and Data Quality — which help colleagues manage external aid more efficiently. As a result, INTPA's operational and financial performance has significantly improved. INTPA has developed a further three dashboards covering its essential needs in terms of sound financial management, reporting and analysis. These dashboards combine and re-organise data from various sources in a user-friendly, graphic interface. The dashboards are all accessible through the Reporting Catalogue .

More than 80 per cent of the controls performed on the quality of operational (e.g. accuracy of contract dates) and financial information (e.g. General Ledger Accounts) or information encoded in the information systems is now automatic.

• The Portfolio Management Dashboard. The results of the controls appear in the new version of Portfolio Management Dashboard, which incorporates the earlier Data Quality Dashboard and instantly provides Delegations, units and Directorates with an overview of (a) the main components of their portfolio (decisions, contracts, payments, bank guarantees, recovery orders and financial forecasts), (b) transactions in the workflow and (c) any potential data quality issues. The use of the Portfolio Management Dashboard as a uniform financial and operational monitoring tool.
• The two KPI Dashboards (KPI and EAMR KPI) organize and display information on KPIs and other Indicators. They enable monitoring of INTPA's performance regarding sound financial management, internal control and audits. It serves as a basis for the declarations of assurances signed each year by Heads of Delegations, Directors and Director General in their annual reports.
  - The Aid Implementation Dashboard presents the financial implementation status of programming documents per instrument, sector and country.
• The Statistical and Budget Execution Dashboards are data analysis and reporting dashboards.