This report is the final report on seven national case studies (NCS) performed in the 4i-TRACTION project. It presents outcomes of the evaluation of 4i dimensions at the national level. This exercise focused on the operationalisation of EU climate policies and their interactions with initiatives implemented at the national level. It provides an analysis of Member States’ approaches towards achieving common climate policy goals and enables an assessment of national action affecting the 4i’s (innovation, investment, infrastructure, and integration). The outcomes of the NCS should be considered three-fold as:
- Operationalisation and examples of methodology to be reproduced in other national cases in 4i’s framework
- General recommendations regarding policy assessment performed in diverse Member States in various manners
- Source of generalised and specific findings for each “I”: innovation, investment, infrastructure, and integration.
The seven NCS covering Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain follow a common structure to facilitate a comparative assessment of national approaches towards the 4i challenges. Each case study relates to at least two of the 4i challenges. The case studies were selected to illustrate both best practices and challenges associated with addressing the 4i challenges through national climate policy tools and their interactions with the European policy framework. The final framework of the case studies was also guided by a series of workshops covering each of the 4i’s.
This report shows the importance of the NCS and the connections among the cases regarding each of the “I’s”. The section on case study design presents the research questions in all seven cases, the key aspects regarding the 4i’s, as well as the subject selection and their relevance for the 4i themes.