Ecologic provided expert review in support of the project "Das größere Europa" organised by the Bertelsmann Stiftung. The review is entitled: "Differentiated integration in the European environmental and energy policy".

The study "The proposed revision of the Waste Framework Directive: An assessment of the Impact Assessment and the Implications of the Integration of the Hazardous Waste Directive" examined the quality of the Impact Assessment issued by the European Commission on their proposal to amend the Waste Framework Directive and analysed the impacts of the suggested merger of the Hazardous Waste Directive with the Waste Framework Directive.

The role of renewable energy is increasing globally. Renewable energy sources are supposed to meet half of Germany's energy demand by 2050. In this article, the authors provide an overview on current developments in the law for renewable energy.

By way of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and following the enlargement process of 2004, the EU aims to redefine its geopolitical interests and relationship with its new neighbours. These neighbours will be given the opportunity to co-operate and build privileged relationships just beneath the threshold of the EU membership status. By way of this project Ecologic, IEEP and SEI-Tallinn assist in implementing selected issues of the ENP Action Plans and the EU-Russia CES roadmap.

What is the role of civil society actors in the assessment of trade agreements with regard to their sustainability impact? The book chapter authored by Markus Knigge and Nicole Kranz analyses the underlying processes and contexts and makes suggestions for the effective involvement of stakeholders in the assessment process at the EU level.

<p>&#13; The concept of sustainable development has gained tremendous popularity since Rio but is still challenging to consider in everyday political practice. The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development, in its opinion on the 2004 progress report on the National Sustainability Strategy of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, thus asked for an instrument to assess legislation on its sustainability. On 28 February 2007 the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development held a public hearing on the Sustainability Impact Assessment instrument, which aimed at discussing existing concepts for Sustainability Impact Assessments as well as their integration in parliamentary procedures.</p>&#13;

Sascha Müller-Kraenner's book questions the security of the energy policies from global powers such as the United States, Russia, and China. It offers a geopolitical perspective on the importance of environmentally safe energy resources.

How can societies adapt to increasing flood risk in river basins and coastal areas? While a large range of potential adaptation options exists, in the more severe cases it will be necessary to consider retreating from flood-prone areas and relocating settlements and critical infrastructure.The Hertie School of Governance and Ecologic have recently completed a study project, the outcome of which is a report on policy options to achieve and encourage resettlement in flood-prone areas. The report is now available for download.

Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) play a substantial role in the financing of infrastructure in developing countries. As the activities of ECAs are backed-up by public resources, national governments have the power to set guidelines for ECA lending policies. Most governments include social and environmental aspects in their ECA guidelines. This book section has a closer look at the role of transparency, information disclosure and participation in the cover decisions of ECAs.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive entered into force in 1985. Over its more than 20 year long existence, numerous projects in the EU Member States have been subject to the EIA procedure. To what extent the benefits of the EIA Directive outweigh its costs is largely unknown. Up to now, there has been no systematic evaluation of the costs and benefits of the EU’s EIA legislation and its implementation in the Member States. The projects aims therefore at calculating and systematically evaluating&nbsp; the costs and benefits of the EIA Directive.

While trade sustainability impact assessments (trade SIAs) have generated much useful information about the potential impacts of trade liberalisation, they have made very limited impact on trade negotiations, which generate unresolved controversy, if not deadlock. This paper contends that one reason for this is that trade SIAs do not explicitly recognise the motives for countries to resist free trade.

The Washington Post called Lester Brown "one of the world's most influential thinkers." The Telegraph of Calcutta refers to him as "the guru of the environmental movement." While visiting Germany in order to launch the German edition of his book "Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble", he gave a talk in Berlin on 22 January 2007.

International airspace and the high seas are global environmental goods with traditionally unrestricted access. The ensuing environmental impact can be addressed through user charges for air- and sea-traffic. This book assessed the legal conditions for the application of such charges in international, European Community and domestic law.

In order to implement its obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as required under the Kyoto Protocol, the European Community created a Directive establishing a community-wide greenhouse gas trading system. Initial experiences with this new marketbased mechanism have been gathered since the beginning of the first trading period (2005-2007). Ecologic has been commissioned to support the drafting of the respective legal framework for the second trading period (2008-2012) and for future trading periods in Germany. The goal of the project is to optimise the legal and economic aspects of emissions trading.