In environmental matters, modern society is living at the cost to future generations. This was the main issue discussed at the Young Leaders Congress 2005 "Ecological Generational Justice into the Constitution", which brought together more than 50 participants from all over Europe and beyond. At the event, Ecologic Fellow Markus Knigge chaired a panel discussion with Karsten Sach, Head of the Division for International Affairs in the German Ministry for the Environment, and Manfred Bergman, Head of the Unit for Evaluation of Transport, Environment and Energy in the European Commission, on where we are in achieving ecological generational justice in Europe.

The international workshop "Implementing the Economic Aspects of the WFD – Future Challenges in the Elbe River Basin" took place in Leipzig on 7 and 8 July 2005 and was mainly organised by Ecologic Associate Britta Pielen. In the course of the workshop, Benjamin Görlach gave an overview of the Member States' current approaches to assessing disproportionate costs in implementing the European Water Framework Directive.

Policy makers are increasingly in need of accurate and timely information in order to meet reporting requirements linked to environmental legislation. This paper explores the extent to which Earth Observation (EO) based services, addressed by the joint ESA and EC initiative "Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES)", can contribute to meeting the special reporting requirements of the major European Union water policy, namely the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

In order to meet reporting requirements linked to environmental legislation, policy makers are increasingly in need of accurate and timely information on water quality. This paper explores how and to what extent new monitoring devices can help European Union members meet the special requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

Local and regional institutions are essential for effectively tackling local environmental problems and for implementing policies that address global environmental challenges. In recent years, a number of transatlantic partnerships between regional and local institutions have evolved in order to change information and best practices in the environmental policy area. The Heinrich Boell Foundation organised an informal dinner on 12 July 2005 during which Ecologic Fellow Markus Knigge gave a speech on the role, the functioning and the effectiveness of transatlantic environmental partnerships, and discussed his findings with the participants present.

On behalf of the European Environment Agency (EEA), Ecologic and Stefan Speck jointly support two projects on the 'Analysis of national waste policies being implemented in the context of landfill and incineration directives' and on the 'use of economic instruments in policies addressing resource use'. Both of these projects build on precursor studies by the EEA which have assessed ex-post the effectiveness of waste water policies and the effectiveness of packaging waste management systems. Ecologic and Stefan Speck will contribute advice in the area of economic instruments and ex-post cost effectiveness methodologies. This project is conducted under the framework contract on European Environmental Economic Activities (3EA).

Along with the emphasis on better regulation and lean governance in the European Union and its Member States, there has been renewed interest in policy evaluation and impact assessment. One of the main criteria in this context is cost-effectiveness, which demonstrates that environmental objectives have been achieved – or will be achieved – at least cost. At the EASY-ECO conference "Impact Assessment for a New Europe and Beyond", Benjamin Görlach was invited to present some insights on state of the art ex-post assessments of the cost-effectiveness of environmental policies.

With the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the European Union aims to redefine the relationships between itself and the new neighbours it acquired in the EU Enlargement of 2004. Economic integration remains at the heart of the ENP, but increased co-operation in the areas of environmental and energy policy is addressed as well. This Ecologic Newsletter by Sascha Müller-Kraenner examines this important issue and also surveys questions that the EU and its new neighbours will need to address together.

The EU and Member States' sustainable development strategies were largely developed in isolation and at different times. They consequently vary considerably in terms of their content and their approach. The objective of this project is to develop a handbook of guidance for conducting reviews and peer reviews of national sustainable development strategies in the EU. This involves designing a template, method and core specifications for reviews, so that a similar approach can be taken towards different national sustainable development strategies. The handbook has been published and can be downloaded.

Since 1999, the European Commission has been undertaking a series of Sustainable Impact Assessments (SIAs) of multilateral and regional trade agreements. On invitation, Markus Knigge presented at the EASY-ECO conference, organised by the Impact Assessment Research Centre in the University of Manchester's School of Environment and Development, a paper on the role of civil society engagement in these assessments. The presentation focused on the objectives of stakeholder consultations, methodologies for participation, the interplay with the negotiation process and the impediments for effective participation of civil society.

Export Credit Agencies like the German EulerHermes AG have often been criticized for their restrictive information disclosure and the lack of participation. Through the recently agreed OECD Common Approaches, a trend towards better and earlier information disclosure has been established; however, the actual implementation of this agreement remains to be seen. Benjamin Görlach presented recent developments in a workshop organised by the non-governmental organisation World Economy, Ecology and Development (WEED).

In this article, Camilla Bausch and Julia Rufin provide an overview of the content of the German energy law, as adopted by the German Parliament in 2005. The new energy law is based on European Directives. The authors focus their contributing article on the essential new provisions. A description of the future regulation of the energy market is provided, and the new rules concerning the unbundling of the energy sector are exposed. Furthermore, provisions that extend the requirements of European law are described.

The United Kingdom put Africa and the Millennium Development Goals high on its agenda for its presidency of the G8 in 2005. In a discussion with Camilla Toulmin - Director of the Institute for International Environment and Development - the impacts of this initiative, its potential and possible implementation challenges were spelled out and debated. The Dinner Dialogue took place in Berlin on 6 June 2005.

As the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol from 2008 to 2012 is drawing near, it is becoming evident that some countries will face major difficulties in fulfilling their commitments under the EU Burden Sharing Agreement, while other countries are already close to achieving their targets. What is the motivation of countries that carry out an effective climate policy, and how do countries that are far away from achieving their reduction targets justify their behaviour? In her essay on European climate policy, Helen Lückge looks at these questions from an economic point of view.