Measuring progress in eco-innovation. CEPS Working Document No. 409/June 2015

Eco-innovation has been identified as one of the key drivers of change that need to be harnessed for a sustainable future. Given the complexity of eco-innovation as a concept, there are various challenges to measuring its progress. This paper briefly explores the evolution of the concept of eco-innovation and emphasises its role in the EU 2020 strategy. It then provides an overview of the different measurement approaches and challenges associated with identifying and using indicators for measuring progress in eco-innovation. Within this context, the paper describes the added value and key features of the www.measuring-progress.eu web tool, which aims to improve the way in which policy-makers and others involved in the policy process can access, understand and use indicators for green economy and eco-innovation. The web tool was developed on the basis of a systematic overview by the NETGREEN research team of the large and fragmented body of work in the field of green economy indicators. The paper concludes with a number of messages for policy-makers in the field of the green economy

Understanding the Circular Economy in Europe, from Resource Efficiency to Sharing Platforms: The CEPS Framework. CEPS Special Report No. 143 / July 2016

This paper aims to rethink the concept of the ‘circular economy’ through the prism of its relevance to its many stakeholders, ranging from public and private actors and mature and emerging industries to cities and regions, SMEs and multi‐sectoral corporations. The paper presents a schematic framework, which breaks down the circular economy into eight fundamental building blocks and shows how they are interconnected in relation to the multiplicity of involved actors. The framework is used to develop recommendations addressed to European policy‐makers on how best to support the transition towards a circular economy in the EU. 

Resource Efficiency Indicators for Policy-Making. CEPS Working Document No. 415/November 2015

In the EU, resource efficiency has been high on the political agenda since 2011, when the European Commission first included it as one of the seven flagship initiatives in its Europe 2020 Strategy for “smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”. Resource efficiency is not only considered an environmental necessity, but also a political, economic and security opportunity. This paper first stresses the benefits and opportunities for the EU of improving its resource efficiency. It then explains the added value of the www.measuring-progress.eu web tool, which aims to improve the way policy-makers and others involved in the policy process can access, understand and use indicators for resource efficiency. It provides practical examples of relevant indicators in the form of the EU Resource Efficiency Scoreboard and a case study showing how the web tool established by NETGREEN can be used in practice. The paper concludes with a number of policy messages

Supporting study for the Fitness Check on the construction sector: EU internal market and energy efficiency legislation. CEPS Report, October 2016

This study is intended to support the REFIT Sectoral Fitness Check of the Construction Sector, undertaken by the European Commission and expected to be published in the spring of 2017. The Sectoral Fitness Check aims at examining how various EU legal acts impact on the construction sector, and at identifying possible areas of improvement, including reduction of regulatory costs and burdens and a better alignment of provisions, if applicable. The analysis included evaluating the efficiency, coherence, effectiveness, relevance and EU added value of most relevant provisions of EU legislation, with respect to the objectives for a more competitive and sustainable construction sector, in particular for SMEs. Particular attention was paid to identifying any synergy or inefficiencies arising from these acts

Why are green fiscal policies such a small part of green economic policies? Evidence from three European countries

One of the fundamental causes of environmental and resource use problems are unpriced scarcity and perverse subsidies. The logical solution seems to be to correct perverse subsidies and to price goods that were unpriced through taxes or otherwise. These measures would also improve the government budget that may be used to reduce distorting taxes and invest in the green economy or for social purposes. In practice the adjustment process of taxes and subsidies is very slow, while at the same time a large number of policies for greening the economy would have been much cheaper and more effective if prices were right. Why is there so much resistance to do what seems to be logical from an economic point of view? This chapter attempts to answer these questions by analysing green taxation policies and discussions in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK as well as by comparing the dynamics in these countries. One conclusion is that we have to be very careful with indicators like the share of environmental taxes in the GDP, because classification is not consistent and because the taxes may not give incentives for greening the economy. In all three countries, the tax on energy has many exemptions that are sometimes used as a reward for making green agreements with governments. Third, coal in electricity production kept its privileges in Germany and the Netherlands in exchange for an agreement, while the UK introduced carbon taxes for coal, in practice forcing companies to close down coal-based electricity production. International competiveness, distributional issues and fear for stranded assets seem to be the main drivers against the consistent use of green taxation. Other issues are the administrative burden, enforcement problems and perception on the effectiveness of taxes. In cases where environmental taxes are explicitly related to labour tax reductions, people are generally not aware of this. In many cases the environmental taxes are relatively complex, such as for example in the UK where it is almost impossible to calculate the final tax people pay on energy use. Designing a lucid and consistent tax system is therefore crucial. A large number of exemptions does not fit into this. The European Emission trading scheme (ETS) creates an extra problem for green taxation, because a reduction in pollution in one country will be offset by more pollution in another country, except when the excess quota is taken out of the market