AUTHORS: Carolina Valsecchi – Patrick ten Brink – Samuela Bassi – Sirini Withana – Megan Lewis – Frans Oosterhuis – C. Dias Soares – H. Rogers-Ganter – Timo Kaphengst

This study is a contribution to the European Commission’s ongoing efforts to investigate and reform environmentally harmful subsidies (EHS). The report focused on three methodologies proposed by the OECD for the identification of EHS, the analysis of their impacts and the implications of their removal – namely the ‘quick scan’, the ‘checklist’ and the ‘integrated assessment’ methods. The methodologies were tested in the context of six case studies, in the field of energy, transport and water. Potential shortcomings and possible improvements were investigated, in order to make the methodologies operational for practical use in a context of policy making. Furthermore, good practices for use by policy makers, both at EU and Member State level, were identified. Finally, the study provided baseline information and indicators for potential future measurements, benchmarking and efficiency target setting.