The report provides an overview of the environmental relevance of the largest fields of expenditure within the EU budget. It assesses the sustainability level of key budget items in the EU sectoral policies. It also provides recommendations in the context of a potential reform of subsidies that would contribute to the alignment of the EU budget towards a more sustainable growth as called in the EU 2020 Strategy.

Homeyer, Ingmar von; Sirini Withana et. al. 2011: Final Report for the Assessment of the 6th Environment Action Programme.

Further development of combined heat and power plants (CHP), which would serve to promote climate protection, still lacks clear political support. This is the conclusion of a study on the profitability of CHP conducted by Hans-Joachim Ziesing, Senior Policy Advisor at Ecologic Institute, and Felix Matthes on behalf of the Association of Municipally Enterprises (VKU) in Germany.

Ecologic Institute led a study examining adaptation strategies in large cities and metropolitan areas across the European Union. A print version of the report is now available in English and French. The study, which was commissioned by the Committee of the Regions, aims to identify best practices at the levels of both strategies and individual adaptation measures. It is targeted at local and regional administrators and interested stakeholders.

Ecologic Institute, represented by Tanja Srebotnjak and Sebastian Veit, completed a study commissioned by the European Parliament (EP) on the use of radioactively contaminated materials in the construction of residential dwellings in Gabon and Niger. In particular, the study examines practices in the disposal of materials discarded in the mining of uranium in these two countries and is based, inter alia, on a fact-finding mission to Gabon by Sebastian Veit.

Doris Knoblauch and Alexander Neubauer of Ecologic Institute analyse which EU and international policies can be informed by the three Footprint Indicators (Ecological, Carbon, and Water Footprints). Furthermore, the report uses the RACER and SWOT analysis to evaluate the indicators' robustness, their usefulness for assessing progress towards the policy objectives and the possibilities for their integration into policy making.

2010: Supporting the Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and Recycling, Final Report. IEEP, ECOLOGIC, ARCADIS, UBA, BIO INTELLIGENCE SERVICES, VITO.

Gantioler S., Rayment M., Bassi S., Kettunen M., McConville A., Landgrebe R., Gerdes H., ten Brink P.: Costs and Socio-Economic Benefits associated with the Natura 2000 Network. Final report to the European Commission, DG Environment on Contract ENV.B.2/SER/2008/0038. Institute for European Environmental Policy / GHK / Ecologic, Brussels 2010.

Do the National Renewable Energy Action Plans concerning Member States' goals for 2020 address the long-term restructuring of electricity generation? Do they consider possibilities for European cooperation? Dr. Stephan Sina and Katharina Umpfenbach of the Ecologic Institute examined these questions in their analysis of the German Renewable Energy Action Plan commissioned by the European Green Foundation.

Knowing the limits of the planet's ability to provide resources and absorb pollutants is directly linked to debates on the limits to growth. Together with their partners from SERI, Ecologic Institute analysed environmental thresholds and associated indicators for monitoring unsustainable trends caused by human activity that could lead to the crossing of environmental thresholds in Europe. The areas covered are freshwater quality and quantity, soil erosion, and nonrenewable resource consumption. The report is available for download.

Ecologic Institute led a study examining how regional and local authorities contribute to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy by transforming their energy systems. The report, which was commissioned by the Committee of Regions, aims to propose a set of recommendations for future improvements of the program. The study is available for download.

In their policy paper "International Trade Policy in the Context of Climate Change Imperatives" for the Committee on International Trade, Christiane Gerstetter, Michael Mehling and Tanja Srebotnjak examine the relationship between trade and climate change as well as the potential of trade and trade policies to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

For some, geo-engineering (the large-scale alteration of the Earth's physical or bio-chemical characteristics) is a "plan B" to deal with climate change. The German policy journal "Politische Ökologie" dedicated a recent issue (no. 120) to this topic. Ralph Bodle and R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic Institute put the spotlight on the existing and desirable international legal framework.

The National Renewable Energy Action Plans offer a unique insight into the energy policy context of each EU Member State. For a comparative analysis of six European action plans, Katharina Umpfenbach and Stephan Sina contributed a review of Germany's action plan.

A new publication in the journal "Ecological Indicators" by Tanja Srebotnjak, from Ecologic Institute, and Peter Hardi, from the Central European University in Hungary, examines the potentials for sustainable bioenergy production in Bulgaria, Romania and the former Soviet republics in Central Asia. The study draws on official statistics and modeling results and concludes that bioenergy potentials are highest in Bulgaria, Romania, and Kazakhstan but depend on several factors including crop choice, climatic conditions, availability of suitable land, and the institutional and legal infrastructure.