Using Member States' information on policies and measures to support policymaking: energy efficiency in buildings

Combining public information on policies and measures is the most effective way to support policy evaluations

Evaluating the effects of existing policies can help decision-makers to make better and more informed decisions about future policies. This requires a systematic process for assessing policy design, implementation, outputs and impacts. Policymakers from different countries can also learn from each other by making information available on their country’s experiences of designing and implementing policies and measures in various sectors, and of assessing and monitoring their effects.

In the policy areas of climate change mitigation and energy, a number of resources or ‘databases’ on national policies and measures bring together some of this information to support the work of policymakers, researchers and other stakeholders. Notably, these include the EEA database on climate change mitigation policies and measures in Europe ^[1], which is based on the national information that Member States report in line with the EU’s requirements ^{([2], [3])}.

A comparison of resources on policies and measures ^[4] shows that none is currently able to capture all of the information both available and relevant to policy evaluation. For example, the EEA’s database extensively covers greenhouse gas-emitting sectors, is easily accessible and includes both qualitative and quantitative information for each policy and measure. However, the information on the achieved (ex post) effects of all policies remains incomplete.

Therefore, combining publicly available information sources provides a more complete picture of national climate mitigation policies in various sectors across the EU, as well as more detailed information on each policy’s effectiveness, efficiency, relevance or coherence. The following practical case studies illustrate how these databases can support policy analysis.

Evaluating individual national policies

When evaluating a policy or ‘intervention’, an ‘intervention logic’ can be used to identify its main characteristics, particularly how the action was intended to achieve its objectives. A well-designed intervention logic helps to identify relevant questions that help to evaluate each policy or measure against several criteria (e.g. relevance, coherence, effectiveness or efficiency).

Case study: Energy efficiency improvement in public buildings in Estonia

Figure 1 Case study: energy efficiency improvements in Estonia’s public buildings and the related intervention logic

Policy databases can effectively support external evaluations by providing useful information for defining an intervention logic for different policies or measures. For example, in a recent evaluation study of reported national information [6], the EEA selected a sample of the policies and measures in its database, aiming to be representative of countries, sectors, instrument types and targeted greenhouse gases. An intervention logic was defined for each selected policy, using the information available from databases on policies and measures as a starting point.

The information available from the EEA’s database was either used directly or referred to other relevant resources. Publicly available information was further complemented by national evaluations and other information suggested by national experts. Figure 1 presents an example of an intervention logic for a measure to improve energy efficiency in Estonian public buildings.

Assessing the combined effects of multiple policies

Policy databases provide useful overviews of the different climate policies at national and/or sector level, making it possible to benchmark or evaluate several instruments within one sector, objective or country, or even across countries. For example, policy mixes combine instrument types to achieve a single objective.

Databases of policies and measures can support such evaluations. For example, in a recent analysis ^[7] of policy mixes aimed at improving energy efficiency in buildings, the EEA traced the development of policy mixes in six countries during the 2000-2020 period, based on information from these databases and complemented by a wider literature search. The analysis mapped policy goals, timeframes, instrument types developed and audience targeted.

The findings showed that Member States implemented a large number of policies and measures to save energy in buildings: regulations, economic incentives, taxes, information, education and voluntary agreements. These policies and measures also targeted different actors: building professionals, owners or tenants, energy suppliers, local or national authorities and financial institutions. Figures 2 and 3 show how policies and measures addressing energy efficiency in buildings in the Netherlands have evolved.

Policy mixes, if well designed, are generally more effective than single instrument types. Their overall effectiveness can be affected, positively or negatively, by interactions between instruments. The illustrated case study shows how evaluating a group of policies and measures can capture and assess the links between policies sharing an objective.

Case study: Evolution of the policies and measures addressing energy efficiency in buildings in the Netherlands

Figure 2 History of policies and measures to improve energy efficiency in buildings in the Netherlands

Figure 3 Energy consumption of household space heating, and evolution of policies and measures addressing energy efficiency in buildings in the Netherlands (based on ODYSSEE-MURE)

Source: [7]