Ockham IPS, in cooperation with Panteia and LSE Enterprise, implemented a study to make recommendations on how the ex post evaluation of the European Social Fund (ESF) for the 2007-2013 programming period should be carried out. The study explored different ways of assessing the effectiveness, efficiency and socio economic impact of the ESF. A first specific issue raised in this study was whether it would be advisable to make a distinction between several geographical or thematic aggregations in the (several work packages of the) ex post evaluation. Another issue was whether governance related aspects should play a role in the ex post evaluation and whether the transition between the Lisbon strategy to Europe 2020 poses particular challenges. Finally, it was assessed how the available information could best be used and what evaluation methods would be most appropriate. All these issues fed the central question of what kind of ‘work packages’ can be designed for the ex post evaluation in order to satisfy the regulatory requirements in the best possible way.