Written by Joseph Dunne
In June 2011, the Parliament adopted an own-initiative report (Niebler Report) on ‘guaranteeing independent impact assessment’, which welcomed the on-going development of the impact assessment process as an important aid to the legislature, argued that the concept of impact assessment should be applied throughout the policy cycle – on both an both ex-ante and ex-post basis – from the design of legislation to its implementation, evaluation and eventual revision. It also advocated a proper assessment of European added value by the EU institutions, ‘in terms of what savings will result from a European solution and/or what supplementary costs would arise … in the absence of a European solution’. It suggested that, within the Parliament, there should be renewed emphasis on an ‘integrated impact assessment process’, underpinned by the development of a stronger common procedure and methodology in committees.
In response to the Niebler report, and with a view to strengthening the capacity of parliamentary committees to engage in ex-ante work of various kinds, the Parliament’s Bureau established a Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, which started work in January 2012. The directorate was initially located in the Directorate-General for Internal Policies (DG IPOL); since November 2013, it has formed part of the new Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (DG EPRS).
This Activity Report provides an overview of the Impact Assessment and European Added Value work carried out in this Directorate between June 2012 and June 2014.
