Environmental Governance

Our Work

The environmental governance team covers strategic questions and examines the mechanics and processes behind the formulation and implementation of environmental policies. Our work is spread across a wide, often cross-cutting, range of issues. Key tasks include monitoring current developments in EU environmental policy, including the role of the budget, assessing environmental policy integration and policy coherence, conducting impact assessment and policy evaluation studies, evaluating policy implementation and enforcement, and looking at the global dimension of European environmental policy.

At its founding in 1957, the then European Economic Community (EEC) did not have an environmental dimension. Today the EU has some of the most progressive environmental policies in the world. EU legislation has played a vital role in improving habitat and species protection and river management, and has contributed to dramatic improvements in air and water quality and waste management. Although significant challenges remain, it is widely acknowledged that EU policy has successfully reduced a number of pressures on the environment and stimulated investment in more sustainable economic growth.

The EU has developed a ‘tool box’ of policy instruments, approaches and strategies with which to pursue its environmental objectives. It has also adopted a number of cross-cutting strategies and approaches to policy making to provide the overarching context for environmental decision-making. These are seen to be increasingly significant to the environmental debate in Europe.

Over the years the EU has taken on a growing leadership role in the global context.

More about our work in this area...

Latest in Environmental Governance

  • Protecting the interests of future generations

    Do future generations get a fair deal from the policy decisions we make now? A new IEEP report for the World Future Council launched today suggests not.

  • The Manual: Chapter 1 - Policy framework

    This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. In this chapter, the reader is introduced to European environmental policy, EU institutions and agencies, and the development of EU treaties.

  • The Manual: Front pages

    This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. This chapter provides information on the authors, editors and editorial board involved in the Manual, as well as guidance on how to use it, and a brief outline of its content.

  • The Manual: Chapter 7 - Resource use

    This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. This chapter illustrates the variety of EU laws, policies and guidance documents that have been adopted to improve the efficiency of our use of natural resources and to reduce environmental impacts throughout a product's life cycle.

  • Reforming environmental taxes and harmful subsidies: challenges and opportunities

    This policy paper provides a brief introduction and overview to the issues of environmental tax reform and environmentally harmful subsidies and outlines recent developments in the EU. It also outlines the remaining challenges in these areas and the potential role of the 7th EAP in helping to deliver the ETR and EHS agendas.

  • Commissioner Potočnik opens IEEP conference in Brussels

    IEEP organised a high-level conference on ‘Stepping up action for Europe’s environment’ on 4 December. The conference brought together a number of prominent speakers and participants from policy, business, academia and NGOs to reflect on the challenges and opportunities currently facing the EU and key priorities for the future.

  • Running out of time? Stepping up action for Europe's environment

    New report by IEEP launched at high-level conference in Brussels.

  • Exploring key priorities and actions for the 7th EAP

    This policy paper examines how the forthcoming 7EAP can contribute to protecting natural systems and improving the way in which we use natural resources. It also examines a number of cross-cutting actions needed to support the priorities of the 7EAP and ensure better delivery of EU environment policy.

  • Assessment of the 6th Environment Action Programme

    This report presents the results of an independent evaluation of the 6th Environment Action Programme (6EAP). The overall objective of this evaluation was to provide an in-depth assessment of the achievements of the 6EAP since its adoption in 2002 to the end of 2010.

  • Drowning in Process? The Implementation of the EU's 6th Environmental Action Programme

    This study evaluates the implementation of the 6EAP across all four of its ‘key environmental priorities’...

  • The Impact of Better Regulation on EU Environmental Policy under the Sixth Environment Action Programme

    A part of a series of strategic analyses evaluating the Sixth Environment Action Programme this report evaluates how Better Regulation approaches have shaped the implementation of the objectives set out in the 6EAP in the process of their translation into legislative measures...

  • IEEP study on 6EAP to be discussed at EP workshop on 21 November

    IEEP, together with Ecologic, SYKE, BIO IS and IVM, has drawn up a report, which provides an independent assessment of the achievements of the 6th Environmental Action Programme (6EAP) across all four ...

  • Press Release: Report on implementation of 6EAP

    The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) has today released a report prepared by IEEP on the implementation of the EU's 6th Environmental Action Programme (6EAP). Agreed in 2002, the 6EAP sets out priority ...

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