Triggered by Brexit, the EU began a process of reflection, soul-searching and possibly reform – the so-called "Bratislava process" or the "process on the Future of Europe". EU institutions, Member States and civil society have made a number of contributions to this process. This paper of the Ecologic Institute discusses how EU climate and energy policies can support the EU reform process.

This discussion paper, edited by Ecologic Institute, presents the physicochemical investigation methods used in the research focus "Plastics in the Environment", in particular for the analysis of microplastics. Therefore, representatives of the joint research projects discussed methods and analytical approaches to identify validated methods and comparable results in the various projects. The discussion paper reflects the current state the debate within the research focus. It contributes to a pool of methods that are as standardised as possible for the relevant application fields in science, industry, and administration and is available for download.

This Briefing Note presents the first insights from Climate Recon 2050 – a project aiming to facilitate intra-EU exchange and foster the creation of know-how and networks essential to develop effective and ambitious national long-term climate strategies as a tool to guide a successful transition to a low-carbon economy. The Briefing Note brings together insights from the project’s activities – including a day of discussions on long-term climate planning held among policymakers from 10 EU Member States – and builds on related research by project partners.

Hogan, Michael; Frederick Weston and Raffaele Piria 2018: Power systems in the 2020s: What can Germany and the PJM region learn from each other? Briefing note for the Germany – PJM States Energy Trends Forum. The Regulatory Assistance Project, Montpellier Vermont, USA.

The Working Group ECOSTAT of the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) held a workshop on classification on 29-30 May 2018 in Tallinn. The aim of this workshop with respect to hydromorphology was to facilitate a better common understanding on the use of hydromorphological quality elements for the overall assessment of ecological status and potential. This is part of a wider work item on classification in the ECOSTAT work programme focusing on the linkage between supporting and biological quality elements (BQEs). The Workshop Summary Report presents the main discussions that occurred during this meeting and is available for download.

There are many promising ways in which the next EU budget could help EU Member States achieve their climate and energy targets. Explicitly targeting EU public spending towards climate could send a signal to other investors, creating a shift in financial flows. Existing legislative proposals the door already ajar, but concrete improvements are needed to push it open, analysis by Ecologic Institute shows.

This paper formulates recommendations for action for policy makers to promote sustainable food systems in Germany and identifies open research needs. Stephanie Wunder and Dr. Martin Hirschnitz-Garbers of Ecologic Institute contributed to this. The results paper is available for download.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being adopted as an effective tool to address urban challenges. But, to what extent do current policy frameworks support or hinder their implementation? This report examines if and how the concept of NBS is addressed in select EU and Member State policies and funding instruments. The report was published within the Horizon 2020 project NATURVATION and is available for download.

Ecologic Institute supported the European Commission and the Ad-hoc Task Group on Hydromorphology in organising a Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) workshop. This CIS workshop on the subject of significant adverse effects was organized on 23 and 24 April 2018 in Brussels. The Workshop Summary Report presents the main discussions that occurred during this meeting. In addition, prior to the workshop, Ecologic Institute prepared a discussion paper providing background information to workshop participants on the topic. The discussion paper is available for download.

As part of a project to structure the energy law, Ecologic Institute contributed to a discussion paper on conceptual considerations on the concept of plant in the Renewable Energy Act . Based on the functions of the term "plant", the authors recommend a new conceptualization, according to which the current abstract term "plant" is replaced by energy carrier-specific terms "plant", which are first combined in a catalog to form a uniform term "plant". The discussion paper is available for download.

Stakeholder and public engagement are key elements of EU policy development, as well as of responsible research and innovation. Over a period of three years, BioSTEP has designed and implemented a wide range of citizen and stakeholder engagement activities regarding the development of Europe's bioeconomy. This paper, edited by Ecologic Institute's Holger Gerdes and Zoritza Kiresiewa, presents a set of research recommendations, which builds on the lessons learned from the application of BioSTEP's participatory tools. The BioSTEP research recommendations are available for download.

Kemper, Melanie 2018: Website-Konzept für die Einbindung der Plastikpiraten in die Website der Fördermaßnahme "Plastik in der Umwelt" www.bmbf-plastik.de. Berlin, unpublished.

Stelljes, N., McGlade, K., Martinez, G., BONUS SOILS2SEA Deliverable 6.4. Results from stakeholder workshops on governance concepts. Ecologic Institute, Berlin, December 2017, www.soils2sea.eu

Next to steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere is essential to keep average global temperature increases to 1.5°C, and well below 2°C. At this point in time, there is effectively only one realistic and sustainable way to help remove large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere: restoring degraded forests. A strong and reliable governance framework is a pre-condition to restore degraded forests at the necessary scale. A new Ecologic paper discusses how to design such a governance framework for the EU. The paper is available for download.