External Evaluation of the Implementation of Operating Plan 2019 (OP 2019) of EASO Intervention in Cyprus - Summary Report - 04/05/2020

Sep 13, 2026

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External evaluation assesses the implementation of EASO’s Operating Plan 2019 (OP 2019) in Cyprus under the 2019 intervention framework signed between EASO and Cyprus. The summary covers how intended results were achieved, with evaluation of relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency, and it highlights good practices, lessons learned, and recommendations. OP2019 focused on four measures spanning registration and asylum procedure access, reception conditions and first reception set-up, backlog reduction for pending asylum applications, and improvements to databases and case management. The report notes effective support in registrations and operational coordination, while identifying constraints affecting productivity and efficiency.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Executive summary

Evaluation scope and criteria

Intervention measures and objectives

Effectiveness and operational findings

Efficiency considerations

External evaluation of the implementation of Operating Plan 2019 (OP 2019) of EASO intervention in Cyprus Summary report 04/05/2020 EUAA/EVAL/2020/02/FRsummary Authors This report was prepared by: André Estignard, Partner BearingPoint Tour CBX 1, Passerelle des Reflets 92913 Paris La Défense Cedex France [andre.estignard@bearingpoint.com](andre.estignard@bearingpoint.com) Wim Palmers, Senior Manager BearingPoint Rue Montoyer Straat 25 1000 Brussels Belgium [wim.palmers@bearingpoint.com](wim.palmers@bearingpoint.com) Lyra Jakuleviciene, Senior Quality Assurance evaluation expert Tatiana Kistruga – Country evaluator Cyprus External evaluation 2019 OP Cyprus – Summary Report EUAA/EVAL/2020/02/FRsummary Disclaimers The sole responsibility for this report lies with the author. The EUAA is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. This report includes non-validated operational data provided to the evaluators during data collection. Some data may differ from those presented in other reports because such data may have been updated through subsequent internal data reviews or validation exercises. This report may include provisional data available at the time of production of the report. Some data may therefore differ from those in validated and official statistics subsequently submitted to Eurostat (in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2020/851 amending Regulation (EC) 862/2007) and published on the Eurostat website [https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/migration-asylum/asylum](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/migration-asylum/asylum). This page was added to the report on 08/0 1/2024 Executive summary The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) started providing support to Cyprus in July 2014, with the signature of the Special Support Plan (SSP) . In December 2018, an Operating Plan (OP) was signed between EASO and Cyprus for the 2019 intervention. In December 2019, EASO launched the second external evaluation of its operations in Cyprus, which covered the implementation of OP2019 . This evaluation sought to assess the achievement of intended results, determine the relevance, assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the activities performed, highlight good practices and lessons learned, and provide appropriate recommendations. The OP2019 was assessed against the following evaluation criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and added value. This document represents the summary report of that external evaluation. OP2019 offered a clearer view of EASO’s role and intervention, partly due to its multiannual results framework (with outcome and output indicators and targets) and the Fidelity Monitoring Plan. The intervention in 2019 focused on four measures, with the overall objective of providing persons in need of international protection with access to the asylum procedure and reception facilities, fully in line with the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) . Measure 1 focused on improving the registration system and access to the asylum procedure by providing registration support to the Aliens and Immigration Unit (AIU) of the Cypriot police. Measure 2 aimed to enhance the implementation of reception conditions in the Kofinou reception centre and support the establishment of a first reception centre in Pournara by establishing a ‘safe zone’. Measure 3 supported the capacity of the Cyprus Asylum Service (CAS) to manage and reduce backlog in the number of pending asylum applications. It also aimed to prepare the ground to support the second instance to process a potential backlog at that level. Measure 4 aimed to enhance database and case management in order to improve asylum processing. EASO’s support on some measures was very effective, such as registrations (Measure 1) . More than half of its efforts focused on backlog management of first instance asylum applications. The intervention scaled-up during the year, following the increa

FAQs

What was the purpose of the external evaluation of OP2019 in Cyprus?

It assessed achievement of intended results, evaluated relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of activities, highlighted good practices and lessons learned, and provided recommendations.

Which four measures did OP2019 focus on?

Measure 1 improved registration and access to the asylum procedure; Measure 2 enhanced reception conditions and supported a safe zone for first reception; Measure 3 supported CAS capacity to manage and reduce backlog; Measure 4 enhanced database and case management for asylum processing.

What were key operational findings about effectiveness and efficiency?

Support for registrations (Measure 1) was very effective, while backlog management received significant effort. Efficiency was assessed as fair to very good depending on the measure, with identified inefficiencies such as limited coordination and lack of a common follow-up database, and recruitment challenges for social workers under legal restrictions in Cyprus.

Sep 13, 2026

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