Mais Centro – Regional Operational Programme of the Centro 2007-2013 is an instrument of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) with exclusive application to the Central Region (NUTS II). It has an ERDF budget of 1.7 billion Euros, which is associated with a national contribution of about 1.2 billion, leveraging a total investment of 2.9 billion Euros over the seven years of the programme implementation, officially formalized on 17 October 2007 by the European Commission and the Portuguese Government.

To respond to the social, economic and territorial problems of the region five strategic priorities were defined: (i) Competitiveness, Innovation and Knowledge; (ii) Development of Cities and Urban Systems; (iii) Strengthening and Enhancement of Sub-regional Areas; (iv) Environmental Protection and Enhancement; (v) Governance and Institutional Training.

The evaluation aims to contribute to improving the Programme’s implementation, by analyzing the different stages of implementation in order to achieve five objectives: (i) Understand how the implementation of Mais Centro is meeting the strategic priorities and objectives; (ii) Assess the relevance of the management and organization model, analyze the institutional training of the actors involved in the implementation and evaluate how the coordination mechanisms are being ensured; (iii) Assess the adequacy of the implementation instruments adopted facing the pursuit of the strategic priorities of Mais Centro, (iv) Assess the extent that the information system is meeting the needs of the programme’s management; (v) Analyze how the suggestions of the Strategic Environmental Assessment and the Ex-ante Evaluation are received, in terms of implementation.