Conclusions

Abstract

In our understanding it is clear that the current practice of the Commission’s impact assessment goes far beyond the practice in most Member States. Also, the Commission’s policy to introduce a “culture of analysis” appears sensible as it addresses the differing educational backgrounds within the staff and attempts to gently move desk officers to increase the potential benefits of a systematic assessment of impacts in a written way. Overall, we value these developments and believe that the Commission’s position on impact assessment should be considered when designing an effective impact assessment system in Germany. However, in our opinion there is still considerable potential for improvement of the Commission’s practice especially concerning impacts on the environment.