Workshop : Assessing the Commission's Impact Assessment on the "Communication on Water Scarcity and Droughts" ; Consolidated texts

A workshop was organised on the Impact Assessment on the "Commission's Communication on Water Scarcity and Droughts". This was held in the context of an ENVI report currently drafted by MEP Richard SEEBER (EPP-ED) on the abovementioned Communication published by the European Commission on 18 July 2007. A panel of 3 experts analysed and debated the Commission's presentation and subsequently answered Members' questions about the different policy options presented in the Impact Assessment. This workshop could be considered a pilot project as it was the first one to be exclusively focused on the Commission's Impact Assessment. In the past, previous experiences brought the European Commission to present impact assessment on ENVI dossier during the meetings of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee. However, no real debate took place as no real challenge was made on the Impact Assessment. The panel of three experts was invited to give their own critical and complementary evaluations of Commission's Impact Assessment in terms of methodology, terminology, and policy conclusions.