Economic analysis plays an increasingly important role in the work of the European Commission, DG Environment. As part of a pan-European consortium, Ecologic supports the European Commission in the economic analysis of environmental policies.

The objective of the project is to support economic analysis of environmental policies. In particular, three main issues are distinguished:

1. Support in the context of Sustainable Development: these activities will provide economic analysis in the framework of the EU's Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) [pdf, 87 KB, English], as agreed upon in Gothenburg in 2001. It focuses on long term trends and transitions, involving structural changes in economy and society.
2. Support in the context of economic analysis: here, the emphasis is on the efficiency or cost-effectiveness and the economic consequences of EU environmental policies. This may include, for instance, the impact of environmental policies on industry (ex-ante and ex-post assessments) and the current use and efficacy of economic instruments.
3. Support for specific Impact Assessments: this involves work to support the Commission in assessing the economic, social and environmental impacts of major policy initiatives in the frame of the extended Impact Assessments. Supporting activities may include, among others, literature reviews, data collection and impact estimation.

Ecologic belongs to a consortium of 15 institutions, lead by the Dutch network partner IVM (Institute for Environmental Studies), that has won the framework contract to carry out these tasks for DG Environment.