In June 2002, the European Commission introduced an internal administrative procedure with the aim to assess potential economic, social and environmental effects of all its major initiatives during the policy formulation process. This so-called integrated impact assessment system is intended to...

This CEPS Special Report analyses the proposed expansion of innovative financial instruments in the EU Multiannual Financial Framework for the 2014–20 period. It presents the economic rationale, governance principles and criteria that these instruments should follow and compares these with...

The EU is presently in a transition phase from environmental policy making by law towards other governance approaches based upon networking, voluntary commitments, benchmarking and other forms of soft law. Those new governance approaches often claim to lead to better regulation, while adopting a...

This assessment of global megatrends focuses on the impact of global pressures on Europe. A global-to-European perspective is relevant for European environmental policy making because Europe’s environmental challenges and management options are being reshaped by global drivers such as...