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Welcome to our studies page.
You will find here a database containing research documents produced by the European Parliament's Policy Departments at the request of committees or other political bodies.
There are mainly two types of documents at your disposal:
- studies (normally more than 30 pages long)
- notes (normally less than 30 pages long)
The database also contains all documents produced by the Parliament's former Directorate-General for Research, going back to 1997.
Policy Departments
The Policy Departments and the Budgetary Support Unit were created in 2004 to provide expertise and research for committees and other political bodies. Some of this research is carried out by external experts, i.e. the leading academics or consultants in a specific field. These are selected through competitive tendering.
Research is requested in line with the Parliament's legislative and political priorities.
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Workshop on EU biodiversity legislation: How to make it work Brussels, 8 June 2010
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Other
16.08.2010
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Author:
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Mr Ronan Uhel, European Environment Agency - Mr Nicolas de Sadeleer, UCL, Saint Louis University, Brussels - Mr Stefan Leiner, DG Environment, European Commission -
Mr Bart Vercoutere, Royal Haskoning - Mr Alistair Taylor, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
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Policy areas:
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Environment, public health and food safety
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Summary:
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This report summarises the presentations and discussions at a Workshop on "EU biodiversity legislation: How to make it work", organised by the ENVI Committee and held at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday 8 June 2010. The aim of the workshop was to provide MEPs with a comprehensive and balanced overview of the difficulties experienced by and the differences between Member States regarding implementation of biodiversity legislation and workable solutions.
The workshop was organised in the context of the report on the implementation of biodiversity legislation (2009/2108(INI)), for which Ms Esther De Lange is the rapporteur.
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The Role of the European Parliament in the European Semester: Increasing the Accountability of the Commission and Council
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Note
16.08.2010
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Author:
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Prof. Mark Hallerberg, PhD - Hertie School of Governance, Berlin (Germany)
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Policy areas:
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Economic and monetary affairs
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Summary:
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This paper considers the role the European Parliament should play under a new European Semester. It begins with a discussion of what legislatures generally do in economic policy and in fiscal policy in particular. It then considers the nature of the problem facing European governance and possible institutional changes to address it. It documents one problem in particular--the Council of Ministers routinely weakens the text of recommendations the Commission proposes for individual Member States under the Stability and Growth Pact. There is therefore a need for an institution to keep both bodies accountable. The European Parliament is ideally positioned to play this role. The Parliament should hold hearings in April of each year to evaluate the performance of the European Commission and Council of Ministers. These hearings would also provide a useful forum to discuss whether Member States have complied with their Convergence/Stability Programmes and with their National Reform Programmes.
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Improving the Participation in the ERASMUS Programme
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Study
15.07.2010
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Author:
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Hans Vossensteyn, Maarja Beerkens, Leon Cremonini - CHEPS, University of Twente (NL) - Barbara Besançon, Noor Focken, Bart Leurs, AEF (NL) - Andrew McCoshan, Neringa Mozuraityte, ECOTEC (UK) - Jeroen Huisman, Manuel Souto Otero, ICHEM, University of Bath (UK) - Hans de Wit, University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam (NL)
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Policy areas:
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Culture and education
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Summary:
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This study explores the extent to which European students experience financial and other barriers to participation in the ERASMUS programme. The evidence indicates that the main barriers to participation vary significantly between countries, with the exception of financial issues, which are an important concern for students everywhere. ERASMUS participation is associated with students’ socio-economic background, primarily influenced by individual preferences and cost-benefit considerations rather than questions of affordability. Other barriers to ERASMUS participation include problems with study credit recognition, as well as insufficient language skills and existing personal commitments.
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The Lisbon Strategy 2000 – 2010 An analysis and evaluation of the methods used and results achieved
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Study
15.07.2010
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Author:
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Study directed by Ricardo Rodriguez (LABOUR ASOCIADOS) ; John Warmerdam (ITSNijmegen) and Claude Emmanuel Triomphe (ASTREES) ; National case-studies Janos Gács (Hungary), Anna Kwiatiewicz (Poland), Christine Erhel (France), Eckhard Voss and Havess (Germany), Javier Calvo (Spain) and Richard Pond (United Kingdom).
Thematic collaborations: Bernard Gazier and Cecile Jolly
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Policy areas:
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Employment and social affairs
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Summary:
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The study provides an overview of the development, implementation and results of the Lisbon Strategy in the field of employment and social policies. Strengths and weaknesses, as well as instruments and methods used, are analysed. Six case-studies illustrate examples of strategy implementation at national level. The report provided analytical background documentation to accompany discussions on the post-2010 strategic agenda for the European Union and its implementation. Research findings were presented at European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs in autumn 2009.
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'What Environmental Challenges for the Europe 2020 Strategy?
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Other
15.07.2010
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Author:
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Kurt Vandenberghe, Head of the cabinet of Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for
Environment ; Christophe Bouvier, UNEP Director of Regional Office for Europe ;
Oliver Blank, Chairman of BUSINESSEUROPE Industrial Policy Task Force ; John Hontelez, Head of the European Environmental Bureau ; Tony Long, Director of WWF European Policy Office
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Policy areas:
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Environment, public health and food safety
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Summary:
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This document presents the contributions to the Workshop on "Environmental Challenges for EU 2020 Strategy", organised by the ENVI Committee in collaboration with the Policy Department Economy & Science held at the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday 10 June 2010. The aim of the workshop was to provide MEPs with a comprehensive overview of the environmental challenges for the 'Europe 2020 strategy' (COM(2010)2020), future issues and interests at stake. The workshop comprised a presentation of the position of the European Commission, of key stakeholders including environmental international organisations and bodies and industry representatives. The present volume reflects also the discussiones the followed the presentations and the views and interests of seveal Members of the European Parliament.
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Monitoring budget support in developing countries
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Study
15.07.2010
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Author:
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Dr. Pedro MORAZAN, Project leader and Svea KOCH - Institute Südwind, GERMANY
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Policy areas:
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Development
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Summary:
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This study aims to assess the effectiveness of developing countries’ national control mechanisms in overseeing budget support. The key questions deal with the oversight role and effectiveness of parliaments and supreme audit institutions (SAI) and the extent to which the EC assesses and supports parliamentary structures and SAIs when budget support is provided. The research is based on case studies in three countries: Ghana, Burkina Faso and the Dominican Republic. Overall, parliamentary budgetary oversight is weak in all countries studied and has not significantly improved since the provision of budget support. In addition, within the framework of budget support, parliamentary performance is inadequately assessed, not yet systematically integrated at policy level and receives only limited EC support. Supreme audit institutions, on the other hand, have attracted more donor attention and their performance has improved in all three country cases. To improve public financial management and to strengthen domestic accountability in the long run, institutions outside the executive, including civil society actors, must gain more weight in the design and management of budget support.
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Economic, Social and Territorial Situation of Germany (Metropolitan Region Rhine-Neckar)
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Note
14.07.2010
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Author:
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Dr. Esther KRAMER and Kathrin Maria RUDOLF - Policy Department B: Structural and Cohesion Policies, European Parliament
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Policy areas:
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Regional and cohesion policy
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Summary:
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This note provides a short overview of Germany's economic, political and administrative set-up and of the specificities of the metropolitan region Rhine-Neckar with the cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen. It then describes the support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within those territories. The note has been prepared in the context of the Committee on Regional Development's delegation to the metropolitan region Rhine-Neckar, 23 - 25 June 2010.
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An assessment of the EU-Korea free trade agreement
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Study
14.07.2010
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Author:
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LSE Enterprise Limited on behalf of the London School of Economics and Political Science and Consortium Partners
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Policy areas:
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International trade
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Summary:
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The free trade agreement negotiated between the EU and the Republic of Korea (EU-Korea FTA or the Agreement) is far-reaching. In terms of the scope of tariff liberalisation it goes beyond anything the EU has agreed in previous agreements. The coverage of services is also ambitious. In a range of other measures, such as the treatment of technical barriers to trade, protection of intellectual property rights including geographic indicators, as well as provisions on dispute settlement and sustainable development the Agreement breaks new ground. It therefore represents forward movement on trade at a time when multilateral negotiations in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) continue to stagnate and international trade needs of promoting in the wake of the financial crises induced slow down.
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Misleading Advertising on the internet
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Study
12.07.2010
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Author:
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Dr. Frank Alleweldt (Project director) ; Prof. Dr. Susanne Augenhofer (Lead author) ; Prof. Dr. Jan Kabel (Second reader) ; Dr. Senda Kara ; Mr Rémi Béteille - Civic Consulting, Berlin
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Policy areas:
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Internal market and consumer protection
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Summary:
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Misleading advertising on the internet exists in various forms. According to enforcement agencies, a majority of cases (still) concern misleading pricing information. No major new trend can be identified.
New media seem to be used for all sorts of hidden advertisement. However, there are hardly any court decisions available yet.
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State of play of the implementation of the provisions on advertising in the unfair commercial practices legislation
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Study
12.07.2010
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Author:
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Dr. Frank Alleweldt (Project director) ; Prof. Dr. Susanne Augenhofer (Lead author) ;
Prof. Dr. Jan Kabel (Second reader) ; Dr. Senda Kara ; Mr Rémi Béteille - Civic Consulting, Berlin
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Policy areas:
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Internal market and consumer protection
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Summary:
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All Member States have implemented the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD), but not all of the new provisions in the implementation laws have been tested yet. In some Member States court decisions are still rather limited and it is
too early for a final evaluation of the UCPD.
The technical choices made differ dramatically. The implementation of the UCPD can be found in civil codes, acts against unfair competition, consumer law codes and specific regulations copying out the UCPD. In addition, not only the place where the
UCPD has been implemented, but also how it has been implemented (e.g. implementation of definitions and of Annex I), differs. This makes it difficult for consumers, enforcement agencies and businesses alike to find the relevant piece of legislation.
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