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Environmental Governance
The environmental governance team covers strategic questions and examines the mechanics and processes behind the formulation and implementation of environmental policies. Our work is spread across a wide, often cross-cutting, range of issues.
Key tasks include monitoring current developments in EU environmental policy, including the role of the budget, assessing environmental policy integration and policy coherence, conducting impact assessment and policy evaluation studies, evaluating policy implementation and enforcement, and looking at the global dimension of European environmental policy.
At its founding in 1957, the then European Economic Community (EEC) did not have an environmental dimension. Today the EU has some of the most progressive environmental policies in the world. EU legislation has played a vital role in improving habitat and species protection and river management, and has contributed to dramatic improvements in air and water quality and waste management. Although significant challenges remain, it is widely acknowledged that EU policy has successfully reduced a number of pressures on the environment and stimulated investment in more sustainable economic growth.
The EU has developed a ‘tool box’ of policy instruments, approaches and strategies with which to pursue its environmental objectives. It has also adopted a number of cross-cutting strategies and approaches to policy making to provide the overarching context for environmental decision-making. These are seen to be increasingly significant to the environmental debate in Europe.
Over the years the EU has taken on a growing leadership role in the global context.
“Urgent action is needed now to avoid significant costs of inaction, both in economic and human terms”. The OECD provides a clear message in its recent Environment Outlook to 2050: Act now – or face major and potentially disastrous consequences.
This IEEP-led study for the European Commission (DG ENV) improves the knowledge base on green infrastructure policy initiatives in Europe and assesses their implementation and efficiency. It also formulates policy recommendations for integrating green infrastructure into the EU policy framework.
This report revisits approaches to defining European added value as a key concept to help the identification of spending priorities under the 2014-2020 EU budget. It puts forward a set of operational criteria for European added value to aid the design of future EU funding instruments, implementation programmes and project selection processes in relation to EU’s ambitions to tackle climate change.
Presentation by Marianne Kettunen of IEEP on the value of ecosystem services in the context of green economy at Nordic conference on Green Growth, in Oslo, Norway March 2012.
IEEP in cooperation with the Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel held an environmental policy forum on the 6th of February dedicated to the reform of the 2014-2020 EU Cohesion Policy.
The latest edition of IEEP's newsletter is now available with articles on the new EU Treaty, the impacts of biofuels on biodiversity, benefits of Natura 2000, and much more...
IEEP in cooperation with the Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, kindly invites you to attend the upcoming environmental policy forum on the 6th of February dedicated to the reform of the 2014-2020 EU Cohesion Policy.
IEEP is carrying out a project which aim is to explore options and tools for the mainstreaming of climate change in the 2014-2020 EU Cohesion Policy and Connecting Europe Facility. This will be the topic of a policy dialogue workshop organised by IEEP on 1 February 2012.
IEEP has produced a special report for the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPEG) on ‘The future of EU environmental policy: challenges and opportunities’. The report provides a brief review of key environmental challenges facing the EU, the main policy and strategic discussions currently underway and assesses some of the prospects and challenges for the future.
As a contribution to the on-going discussion on the future strategic framework of EU environmental policy, IEEP has produced a policy paper on the options and priorities for a 7th Environment Action Programme (7EAP).
Helsinki, 12-14 October. European and North-American scientific and technological community agree on their message for Rio+20, emphasising role of natural capital in underpinning Green Economy and echoing key messages from TEEB.
The Lisbon Treaty substantially modified the framework for the Commission’s implementing powers, commonly known as ‘comitology’. This IEEP report explains the new procedures and gives examples of how they might, or will, apply in the EU biodiversity policy area.
The Sourcebook provides a practical reference document on applicable EU environmental legislation, practices and standards which need to be taken into account in the planning and development of projects supported by Banks that have signed the ‘European Principles for the Environment'.
IEEP’s Peter Hjerp presented at the special conference on Strategic Environmental Assessment in Prague on 21-23 September 2011, organized by the International Association for Impact Assessment, DG Environment and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
New IEEP paper examines the opportunities and challenges of the proposed ‘mainstreaming’ of climate change and other environmental priorities in the 2014-2020 EU budget.
