One facet of the "European Union Action to Fight Environmental Crime" (EFFACE) project, coordinated by Ecologic Institute, is research on the instruments, actors, and institutions involved in the fight against environmental crime. The overall work consists of a main report and a variety of studies, focusing on specific legal provisions, institutions, and actors at the national, EU, and international levels. The reports by Ecologic Institute and other institutions are available for download.

Today, water and sanitation services are organized very differently in Britain and Germany, with privatization at a regional level in Britain and municipal companies in charge of several public services in Germany. In this article, written by Founder and Director Emeritus of Ecologic Institute, R. Andreas Kraemer, and Bernard Barraqué, the history of water supply privatization and centralization in Great Britain and Germany is discussed.

Since 2007, the European Council has played an increasingly active role in shaping the details of future EU climate policies. This involvement raises important questions about potential interference by the European Council regarding the decision-making process for and content of the implementation of the 2030 climate framework. In a broader perspective, concerns have been raised about the establishment of a constitutional practice, which could in fact circumvent the possibility of adopting implementing acts by qualified majority vote. This would alter the balance of power between the EU institutions. Ecologic Institute's Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf discusses the role and mandate of the European Council. The paper is available for download.

Gantioler S., Rayment M., Bassi S., Kettunen M., McConville A., Landgrebe R., Gerdes H., ten Brink P.: Costs and Socio-Economic Benefits associated with the Natura 2000 Network. Final report to the European Commission, DG Environment on Contract ENV.B.2/SER/2008/0038. Institute for European Environmental Policy / GHK / Ecologic, Brussels 2010.

EFFACE partners have compiled twelve case studies on different types of environmental crime. The purpose of conducting these case studies was to identify the mechanisms and impacts of different types of environmental crime within and outside of the European Union and possible counter-measures. The case studies are available for download.

The European Union is in a unique position to support and coordinate Member State efforts to develop Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategies, as well as support collaboration on the development and sharing of knowledge, standards and cost-effective tools. This finding and other key messages are presented in a new policy brief for EU policy makers, prepared as part of the EU FP7 Collaborative project RISC-KIT (Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts-Toolkit) and in collaboration with PEARL (Preparing for Extreme and Rare events in coastaL regions). The policy brief is available for download.

As part of its work under the European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal, and Marine waters (ETC/ICM), Ecologic Institute supported the European Environment Agency (EEA) in an assessment of public participation processes in the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). This resulted in a report covering theoretical aspects of public participation as well as an analysis of 8 case studies from across the EU. The report was reviewed by a series of WFD experts from various EU Member States. The article is available for download.

In this report by Ecologic Institute, the authors analyze the conditions for accessing the main European trading centers for emission allowances. The authors examine possible interactions between the primary and secondary markets and question whether a relationship between the price developments on the primary and the secondary market exists. The comprehensive empirical survey also represents the acquisition channels of German plant operators in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS). The report is available for download.

Ecologic Institute and GHK produced a comprehensive overview of the design, implementation and cost efficiency of green infrastructure projects in the EU to solidify the understanding of this concept. The study was presented at the workshop "Insights from Green Infrastructure projects in the EU", held in Brussels on 17 January 2012. Given the cross-sectoral nature and relevance of the subject, attendees included representatives from DG Environment, DG Clima and DG Regio, amongst others. The study contributes to the EU’s post-2010 biodiversity policy and the development of the upcoming EU strategy on green infrastructure. The final report is available for download.

Knowing the limits of the planet's ability to provide resources and absorb pollutants is directly linked to debates on the limits to growth. Together with their partners from SERI, Ecologic Institute analysed environmental thresholds and associated indicators for monitoring unsustainable trends caused by human activity that could lead to the crossing of environmental thresholds in Europe. The areas covered are freshwater quality and quantity, soil erosion, and nonrenewable resource consumption. The report is available for download.

In this article, published in the journal Frankfurter Hefte, Christiane Gerstetter from Ecologic Instiute takes a stand on environmental aspects in the discussion on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that is currently negotiated between the EU and the USA.

This report, written by Ecologic Institute, the Institute for Managing Sustainability, and ICLEI indicates the importance of local and regional authorities (LRAs) to achieve the targets of Europe 2020. Additionally, it includes guidelines and suggestions for a better involvement of the local and regional authorities besides focusing on targets that are more realistic. The report includes desk analysis and broad online consultation to substantiate this document and is available for download.

A recent study provides the members of the European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety (ENVI Committee) with the needed expertise to monitor the ongoing negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement. The study was co-authored by Ecologic Institute, Bio IS, and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and serves as a follow-up to a 2013 study entitled "Legal Implications of TTIP for the Acquis Communautaire in ENVI Relevant Sectors."

In this book chapter, R. Andreas Kraemer offers insights to the functional aspects and challenges in the Ecologic Institute organization, in both a German and European context. After presenting strategies like network cooperation, and internal structures, e.g. the "Fluid Matrix Organization" of the staff, R. Andreas Kraemer highlights policy successes regarding water or nuclear power policy.

This book presents a practical method to carry out a cost-benefit analysis in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Disproportionally high costs of measures can hinder the achievement of the "good ecological status". With the help of the presented method, the proportionality of the costs can be reviewed with low effort.