Due to their exceptional geographical situation (remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate), the Outermost Regions (OR) – the Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira and the French overseas departments (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Reunion, Martinique and Mayotte) - and the smaller Aegean islands (SAI) face specific socio-economic problems related to the supply of food and agricultural products essential for everyday consumption or agricultural production. Therefore, main aspects of the first pillar of the CAP are specifically adapted to the OR’s needs. They benefit from a specific support programme called POSEI for the OR. Another specific programme is developed for the SAI.

 This evaluation conducted by ADE for the account of DG AGRI focused on assessing the impact of the afore-mentioned support measures with respect to achieving the objectives laid down in the respective Regulations for the period 2006-2014. More specifically, the evaluation examined the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the instruments as well as their coherence with other agricultural measures. Similarly, the EU added value and the administration and management of the programmes have been assessed as well as the ability of the programmes to address particular agriculture-related problems linked to the geographical locations. These issues were addressed through 16 Evaluation Questions (EQs), based on analysis of a variety of quantitative and qualitative data.