A methodological concept for territorial impact assessment applied to three EU environmental policy elements

Abstract

EU policies require either impact assessment or evaluation, depending on the character of the policy elements. A relatively new requirement is the need to assess the territorial impacts of a policy as proposed in the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) and promoted by the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) 2006 programme. Territorial impact assessment (TIA) is defined as “a tool for assessing the impact of spatial development against spatial policy objectives or prospects for an area” (European Communities 2000). This paper summarises and further develops basic work on TIA and presents a methodological concept and the first results of such a TIA approach, applying it to EU environmental policy (civil protection, water, biodiversity).

Territorial Impact Assessment: Cohesion policy and balanced territorial development (Czechia)

“… Thirdly, sectoral policies are likely to have significant territorial impacts. The concept of territorial cohesion therefore emphasises the need for coherence between the two types of policies on the basis of integrating the development strategies (see, e.g., Cotella, Adams and Nunes, 2012;Davoudi, 2005;Greiving, Fleischhauer, Tarvainen, Schmidt-Thomé and Jarva, 2008;Faludi, 2005). Note that all thematic dimensions of sustainable development are relevant here (see, e.g., Medeiros, 2012;Nosek, 2017;Colomb and Santinha, 2014).…”

“…In light of increasing significance in the concept of territorial cohesion, the interest in territorial impact assessment (hereafter referred to as TIA) has recently grown (see, e.g., Camagni, 2009). TIA is relevant for all policies and instruments that have territorial impacts, and this was used in EU transport policy assessments (see, e.g., Camagni, 2009), and also for Slovenian energy policy (see, e.g., Golobič and Marat, 2011), cohesion policy in Portugal (see, e.g., Medeiros, 2014;Medeiros, 2012), cohesion policy in Spain (see, e.g., Medeiros, 2017), EU environmental legislation (see, e.g., Greiving, Fleischhauer, Tarvainen, Schmidt-Thomé and Jarva, 2008;Fischer et al, 2015), and the Slovenian NATURA 2000 programme (see, e.g., Marat, Kolarič and Golobič, 2013). Nevertheless, despite the increasing number of applications, there is no particular TIA methodology that has been established as conclusively superior to others (see, e.g., Golobič and Marat, 2011;Greiving, Fleischhauer, Tarvainen, Schmidt-Thomé and Jarva, 2008).…”

“…TIA is relevant for all policies and instruments that have territorial impacts, and this was used in EU transport policy assessments (see, e.g., Camagni, 2009), and also for Slovenian energy policy (see, e.g., Golobič and Marat, 2011), cohesion policy in Portugal (see, e.g., Medeiros, 2014;Medeiros, 2012), cohesion policy in Spain (see, e.g., Medeiros, 2017), EU environmental legislation (see, e.g., Greiving, Fleischhauer, Tarvainen, Schmidt-Thomé and Jarva, 2008;Fischer et al, 2015), and the Slovenian NATURA 2000 programme (see, e.g., Marat, Kolarič and Golobič, 2013). Nevertheless, despite the increasing number of applications, there is no particular TIA methodology that has been established as conclusively superior to others (see, e.g., Golobič and Marat, 2011;Greiving, Fleischhauer, Tarvainen, Schmidt-Thomé and Jarva, 2008). Marat (2011), andMedeiros (2014) outline three general methodological steps regarding TIA methodology: (a) the definition of the scope and framework of TIA (e.g., source of territorial impacts, territorial units of assessment, time of assessment -ex-ante or ex-post, territorial objectives); (b) identification of causal mechanisms (e.g., policy objectives and influencing factors); and (c) empirical assessment.…”

“…Marat (2011), andMedeiros (2014) outline three general methodological steps regarding TIA methodology: (a) the definition of the scope and framework of TIA (e.g., source of territorial impacts, territorial units of assessment, time of assessment -ex-ante or ex-post, territorial objectives); (b) identification of causal mechanisms (e.g., policy objectives and influencing factors); and (c) empirical assessment. On this basis, several TIA models were developed and used, including the prominent TEQUILA model (see, e.g., Camagni, 2009;Greiving, Fleischhauer, Tarvainen, Schmidt-Thomé and Jarva, 2008), the TARGET-TIA model (see, e.g., Medeiros, 2014;Medeiros, 2012), and the EATIA model (see, e.g., Fischer et al, 2015). The main characteristics of these models may be briefly outlined as follows (see, e.g., Camagni, 2009;Golobič and Marat, 2011;Medeiros, 2014):…”