The Role of Environmental Economics in Recent Policy Making at the European Commission

摘要

The economic analysis of environmental policy has a long tradition and goes back to initial proposals for carbon taxation in the late 1980s, followed by benefit-cost analysis of air quality legislation in the mid-1990s. Nowadays, economic analysis has become well established in the area of climate and air pollution, although it is less established in other areas, such as biodiversity. This article reviews and assesses the recent use of economic analysis in the environmental policy making process at the European Commission (the executive arm of the European Union [EU]). More specifically, we examine the methodology and results of economic analyses of policy options aimed at achieving the EU's objectives concerning climate change, energy, and air pollution.