AUTHORS: Ingmar von Homeyer – Sirini Withana – Tamara Steger – Anneke von Raggamby – Dr Camilla Bausch – David Baldock – Keti – Medarova-Bergstrom – Catherine Bowyer – Odette Carter – Andrew Farmer – Sonja Gantioler – Kristof Geeraerts – Christiane Gerstetter – Kaley Hart – Peter Hjerp – Gesa Homann – Hannah Lee – Indrani Lutchman – Stephanie Newman – Alexander Neubauer – Ian Skinner – Graham Tucker – Axel Volkery

Since 1973, the EU has relied on successive Environment Action Programmes to strategically guide the development of European environmental policy. The current Programme, the 6th Environment Action Programme (6EAP), was adopted in July 2002 and establishes a 10 year framework for Community action on the environment. In 2010, IEEP was part of a consortium led by Ecologic which was contracted by the European Commission to undertake an independent study of the achievements of the 6EAP. This report presents the results of this independent evaluation which, together with the EEA’s 2010 State and Outlook of the Environment Report (SOER), will be used as input for the Commission’s own final assessment of the 6EAP.

A particular focus of this assessment has been the added value of the 6EAP and its role in leveraging the adoption of EU environmental policies. To assess the added value of the 6EAP, this assessment looks at a range of factors which have influenced the adoption of relevant policies and measures and contributed to the achievement of the objectives set out in the Programme. This assessment is based on desk research and analysis of relevant EU policies, measures and tools adopted since 2002 and targeted consultations with key European stakeholders.