This project on the costs and benefits of the EU's Natura 2000 Network was designed to support the European Commission in obtaining an accurate estimate of the costs of managing the network and in increasing awareness of its socio-economic benefits. In addition, it developed a methodology for the systematic updating and refinement of the costs and benefits linked to the network. The project report is available for download.

Differences in the approaches to risk assessment and management, and the development of regulation under conditions of uncertainty, are important sources of friction between the US and the EU. A transatlantic dialogue entitled "The Reality of Precaution", managed by the Duke University Center for Environmental Solutions and the Group of Policy Advisors of the European Commission, addresses the application of the precautionary principle in practice. With sponsorship from the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), R. Andreas Kraemer participates in and contributes to the dialogue.

<p>Research on policy evaluation has gained in importance since the European Union introduced its new procedures on impact assessments in 2003. In the course of the EPOS project, the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOEW) and Ecologic Institute were organising the conference "Sustainable Development in Policy Assessment – Methods, Challenges and Policy Impacts", which took place from 15 until 16 June 2009 in Brussels. The conference seeked to contribute to the understanding of sustainability evaluation. Therefore, contributions were invited that tackle methodological challenges to sustainability evaluation, as well as the question of how the institutionalisation of sustainability evaluation can be improved.</p>&#13;

The European Environmental Agency (EEA) wishes to improve its methodological framework in the area of cost-effectiveness assessments and environmental-economic analysis. Ecologic supports the EEA in this task by creating an inventory of applied ex-post evaluation studies with a focus on methodologies, guidelines, legal requirements and good practice examples from the EU Member States. <p>Ecologic in co-operation with eftec and IVM carries out a review of experiences with cost-effectiveness analyzes, methods and outcomes in the environmental arena. The project's objectives are:</p>&#13; <ul></ul>

The precautionary principle is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union governing policies related to the environment, health and food safety. To achieve a better understanding of the application of the precautionary principle in European policy Ecologic advised the Institut du développement durable et des relations internationales (IDDRI) in the framework of the project "European Precautionary practice".

In a seminal paper, Ecologic argues for using the 'Open Method of Co-ordination' (OMC) in EU environmental policy. OMC is currently successfully employed to drive and align economic and social policies. Ecologic's paper dispels concerns and criticism of OMC and describes how OMC can be combined with more traditional methods used in the European Community.

The new Member States' thorough preparation for the accession to the European Union is a precondition for an effective enlargement of the EU. Therefore, not only the national level but also the regional and local level should be placed in the centre of attention, in order to implement European legislation. The aim of the two projects "Capacity Building in Latvia and Lithuania" is to prepare regional and local environmental administration in Latvia and Lithuania for their EU-accession.

How democratic is Europe? Is it getting worse? Is it getting better? Should we care? Do we care? The European Public Space Observatory project (EUROPUB) will assemble information that allows the monitoring of European democracy in the 21st century in the context of the emerging institutional constellations and socio-political practices of the European Union and the process of European integration.

The rapid changes in economic, social and security policy as well as the upcoming enlargement pose a challenge to the European Union and its institutions. Incisive reforms are necessary. This is the background for assigning the task to the Convention of preparing a draft for a forthcoming European constitution. With the Project "Europe's democratic challenge: Actively shaping European environmental policy" Ecologic follows this process from an environmental point of view.

The EC increasingly participates in international conferences and mixed international agreements alongside its Member States. The appearance of both EC and Member States raises questions of competences for the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of such international instruments. In particular in the field of marine environment, substantial progress is hindered by an opaque division of competences between the EC and its Member States and lack of coordination. Accordingly, the German Federal Environmental Agency commissioned Ecologic with the task of analysing the division of external competences between the EC and its Member States taking into account the OSPAR-Convention.